


Loving You is Hard, Dakedo Happy

by jade_lil



Series: Loving You Is Hard [1]
Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, Drama & Romance, M/M, Ohmiya - Freeform, Romance, Sakumoto - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2018-03-08
Packaged: 2018-11-03 06:32:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 27
Words: 77,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10961658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jade_lil/pseuds/jade_lil
Summary: AU. Nino usually doesn’t consider a man attractive unless he takes his wallet out and have Nino peek at the supposedly thick contents – the kind of guy Nino usually go for -  but frankly, working for a man like that is a completely different story altogether.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> so this silly thing is like a spin off (but not really) of that Ohno Satoshi drama, Sekai Ichi Muzukashii Koi, with the exception of the ladies (and is a hundred times filthier)

It’s his first day working at the President’s office and Nino already confirmed one thing: his boss is weird.    
  
Well, he already got the impression that Ohno Satoshi – owner and CEO of the chains of hotel Nino is currently employed at, the Hotel Samii-jima – is an odd one. He noticed this at the same time he was hired. He accidentally walked in on an interview being held at one of the VIP lounges of the Grand Hyatt hotel in Singapore where Nino was employed a few months back and was headhunted on the spot the second he told the president he was working there.    
  
Weird, because the next time they saw each other was when Nino was sent to complete his two-week training in Kyoto and the president happened to be there for a visit. He saw Nino and outright asked him who he was, which was kind of surprising because, didn’t the man hired him himself? Nino thought the man was kidding, but apparently, he wasn’t.     
  
The president really didn’t recognize him, at least until he introduced himself again at the same he threw a bucketful of warm water to the president’s feet. There was an awkward pause then, before he heard Ohno-san mumbling a quiet, “What are you doing?” and him bowing his head in answer and saying, “I figured you were getting cold since you came here barefoot.”    
  
After that the president left without saying anything, leaving Nino thinking whether he did something wrong that would cost him his job in the process.   
  
But it turned out he didn’t have anything to worry about. At least not yet.    
  
“Ninomiya-san, the president wants you in his office,” Sakurai Sho – President Ohno Satoshi’s Personal Assistant – calls from the doorway of Ohno’s office, his unsmiling face the first thing Nino sees when he gets up from his seat at the mention of his name. “Now.”   
  
Next to him, Aiba Masaki snickers, not even bothering hiding his excitement. Nino feels like punching him. “Oh, what did you do, Nino-chan?” Nino’s not sure what it is either. It might be his stupid attempt at feeding the president’s pet fishes this morning but he could be wrong. Though Ohno-san sure looked a little pissed when he saw him holding the mostly-empty can of fish food, which he did volunteer to buy a refill if the president wanted him to. But Ohno-san simply waved him off, and Sakurai-san stepped forward to escort him outside, mumbling something about how the president liked to feed his fishes personally.   
  
Unsure of what really prompted this sudden invitation to his boss’ office, he tilts his head in answer to Sakurai’s inquiring gaze and settles on elbowing Aiba on the back of his head on his way towards Sakurai who widens the door open to let him in.   
  
  
+   
  
President Ohno Satoshi hates surprises.    
  
Sho knows this as much as he knows everything else about the other man. Like how he wants his first coffee in the morning strong and black, his second with a dash of sugar, no cream;  how he prefers cooking for himself than ordering out. How he plans every single thing in his head before he acts on them, how he settles for things he is comfortable with than the ones that he’s not.   
  
But then Ninomiya Kazunari came and Ohno Satoshi’s life just turned three hundred and sixty degrees upside down without him realizing it and now that he did, it’s fucking him up slowly. Ohno won’t admit it though, not until he’s buried neck-deep into it. Sho is pretty sure he’s going to have a hard time explaining it to his boss – the reason why he can’t not when the man himself is as stubborn as a bull.    
  
“Go on in,” he tells Ninomiya as he points to the door leading to the president’s office. “He’s waiting for you.”   
  
To his credit, Ninomiya looks terribly uneasy.    
  
“A-Am I in trouble?” Ninomiya asks.   
  
He shrugs, unsure of what to say; on one hand, he’s certain Ninomiya’s not in any trouble, but with how Ohno had asked him – commanded him – to call Ninomiya to his office with hardly any reason at all, even he has doubts.   
  
“I honestly have no idea, Ninomiya-san,” he says, meaning it. “Go on in. We don’t want to keep the president waiting, do we?”   
  
Ninomiya nods. “Okay.”    
  
Sho knocks twice and waits for Ohno’s voice prompting him to come in before he opens the door for Ninomiya again.    
  
  
+   
  
Nino honestly feels a little lost.    
  
“Excuse me?” he asks, gaze darting between the note in his hand and to his boss’ face. Nino’s not sure he gets what he’s being asked. He tries again. “You’re asking me to what?” he asks, just to be sure.    
  
Ohno points at the can of mostly empty fish food and then to the note on Nino’s hand. “I’m asking you to buy this for me,” Ohno says, sounding particularly bored. Nino wants to frown but keeps himself from doing so even though he really, really wants to. He’s sure frowning in front of one’s boss is considered impolite, no matter the reason, or so he was told.  It’s a little confusing because he did volunteer to buy the same thing this morning but the other man waved him off as if he couldn’t wait for him to leave.    
  
“It’s almost empty, as you’ve already seen. And I haven’t the time to go to the store myself. The sketch of how you’ll find the store is at the back. I had it drawn for you.” Nino turns the piece of paper and sees. Okay.    
  
Nino feels himself breathe a sigh relief as he forces out a smile. “Oh, okay, that’s fine,” he says, bowing his head. “Do you want me to buy just one or -?”   
  
“One is enough,” the president says as he leans back on his chair. Nino nods.   
  
“Then I’ll buy this later after work. Shall I hand it over to Sakurai-san tomorrow or shall I just leave it here on your table instead?”   
  
“Keep it with you,” Ohno says. “Uh… you can give it to me tomorrow yourself.”   
  
He bows his head if only to hide his confusion. “Okay, then.”   
  
“Sakurai will give you the money for it,” Ohno says,  “That’s all, Ninomiya-san. You can go.”   
  
He bows again, muttering his excuse as he go, belatedly realizing Sakurai is still there, looking thoughtful as he opens the door for Nino again.   
  
  
+   
  
Sho doesn’t even try to hide his amusement.    
  
“What?” Ohno says, more like grunts. Sho chuckles; he rarely does, but this time the situation calls for it. Ohno frowns but the way his mouth lilts into a secretive smile gave Sho all the more reason to believe that Ohno is onto something.    
  
Or someone.   
  
“You like him,” he says, and it’s a statement more than it is a question. Ohno blinks several times at him as if he’s not sure what he’s talking about.    
  
“Him who?”   
  
“Oh, you want to play that game, huh?” he says, turning to point at the window leading outside the office. Through the slightly opened blinds, they watch as Ninomiya mumbles something to Aiba while Aiba frowns in answer.    
  
“I’m not sure I understand what you’re going on about, Sho-kun.” Ohno says with a pout. He takes his gaze back to his laptop and starts fiddling on the keys. Sho knows it is turned off.    
  
“Fine, have it your way for now,” Sho says, “You’re going to tell me all about it eventually, anyway.”   
  
Ohno bristles and waves him off with a curt, “Pshh.”    
  
He bows his head, all PA-like and mumbles, “I’m outside if you need me,” and steps out. He doesn’t miss the way Ohno swivels around in his chair, smiling like an excited kid about to receive his long, expected gift.    
  
Sho sighs and closes the door behind him.   
  
  
+   
  
  
If Nino is going to be completely honest about it, he thinks their boss is kind of hot.   
  
He finds himself thinking about this during lunch, while Aiba is busy stuffing his face with fried chicken wings and he is poking thoughtfully at his curry. He doesn’t say anything about this to Aiba, yet, because he’s not sure how to say it without making it sound like he’s into their president or something, because the fact is that he’s not.   
  
Sure, the man is a looker, and he means that truthfully, not just because the man is obviously rich. Because Nino usually doesn’t consider a man attractive unless he takes his wallet out and have Nino peek at the supposedly thick contents – the kind of guy Nino usually go for -  but frankly, working for a man like that is a completely different story altogether.   
  
Never mind the fact that Nino thinks their boss is weird, it’s certainly unwise, and equally weirder that a new employee like him should harbor such thoughts (and feelings) about his boss. But the thing is, Nino can’t exactly help it.    
  
“He’s kind of weird, don’t you think?” he tells Aiba, who pauses a bit from munching on one chicken wing to frown at him. Nino wonders if he should elaborate on it further but finds that he doesn’t want to.    
  
“Who is?” Aiba asks, spraying bits of rice all over. Nino leans back on cue, vaguely glad that he is sitting opposite of Aiba and that the table is wide enough for the rice spray to reach him. Not even a week on the job and Nino is already aware that you can never be too careful around co-workers. Especially if you’re working with someone like Aiba.   
  
“Our president,” he says, keeping his voice low; it doesn’t hurt to be cautious, after all, since most of their other co-workers are around and are also having their lunches. Most-likely someone will be able to hear them talk about their employer if he’s not careful. “He’s… I don’t know, don’t you think he’s weird?”   
  
Aiba shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly. “Aren’t all presidents weird?” Aiba says, like it’s something he knows. “At least most of them are, I think. Especially the young ones. And our president is like what, thirty years old? Thirty-three? And he’s probably earning like a million Yen every damn day? If accumulating that much money at such young age isn’t weird enough for you, I’m not sure what else is.”   
  
Well, Nino guesses Aiba has a point. It sure is weird, though not in a bad way of course, that at such a young age, their president already owns and single-handedly manages a chain of hotels across Japan.     
  
To be honest, Nino finds those kinds of people interesting.    
  
“Why, did he do something weird when he called you to his office this morning?” Aiba asks, curious.    
  
He thinks of the small paper stuffed inside his pant’s pocket and remembers the way his boss had looked when he handed it over, more particularly how he’d looked at Nino when he told him he should just hand over the can of fish food to Ohno personally the next day.    
  
“Of course not, silly,” he says, though now that he realizes it he knows he won’t be able to get it out of his head anymore. “Forget it. Let’s just finish this so we can head back. I have sheets to fill and files to copy, just so you know.”   
  
Aiba looks unconvinced but Nino doesn’t give him anymore reason to pry. He takes his attention back to his food, sighing quietly when Aiba did the same.    
  
  
+   
  
“Don’t you think this chair is small?” Ohno mumbles, eyeing the chair opposite him. Sho mentally rolls his eyes. “It is, right?”    
  
Even at thirty, President Ohno Satoshi of Samii-jima Hotels sure acts like a kid sometimes.    
  
“It’s not,” he assures Ohno, keeping his expression neutral as the president of Stay Gold Hotels, Matsumoto Jun, came strolling by. He looks perfect, as usual, his hair styled to perfection, his wardrobe too. He smiles at Ohno first, shaking Ohno’s outstretched hand before Jun takes his attention to Sho, long enough to make Sho blush.    
  
“How are you, Samii-kun? Doing better, I hope?” Matsumoto says, smile still in place. The name obviously made Ohno’s brow twitch. He doesn’t like Matsumoto’s chosen nickname for him, after all. “How about you, Sho-san? Still not considering changing employer? I’m very much willing to take you in if you decide to give your position to someone else.” Matsumoto says, giving Sho a wink. Sho feels his heart skips a beat at the attention.    
  
Which is probably why he has a faceful of scowling Ohno the second after, prompting him to rearrange his expression back to some semblance of neutrality.    
  
“I am flattered of your offer, Matsumoto-san, but my loyalty is, and will always be, with Samii-jima Hotels and Ohno-san.” He says, and that at least earns him a nod and a satisfied smile from Ohno.    
  
“Well, you know where to find me if you change your mind,” Matsumoto says.   
  
He sighs and watches the interviewer steps forward to get the two presidents’ attention, watches as Matsumoto tries to charm the pants off her without even as much as trying.    
  
Next to him, Ohno looks on with mild annoyance and interest. Sho knows it’s going to be another difficult two hours, just like the one before this. He needs to focus his attention to Ohno and makes sure he is alert enough to distract Ohno from wanting to bite Matsumoto’s head off during the two-hour interview.   
  
He stands aside and watches as the interviewer sits her ass down and begins.


	2. Chapter 2

  
It only took Sho one careful glance to know that his boss is pissed.   
  
Well, it’s not entirely surprising; Ohno always ends up pissed after his few and far in between meetings with Stay Gold’s president, Matsumoto Jun, that dealing with Ohno’s sour attitude afterwards is no longer a cause of concern for Sho but this time, it’s obvious that something’s changed.   
  
And Sho is certain it’s because of the company’s newly-hired employee, Ninomiya Kazunari.   
  
“How in hell did they know each other anyway?” Ohno grunts, darkly and so very suddenly from where he is buckled safety at the back of the car, startling him and Okada Junichi, Ohno’s long-time bodyguard/personal driver. Sho blinks at the scowling reflection of his boss through the mirror, trying to keep himself from snickering and almost failing.   
  
Ohno’s scowl isn’t even that scary but Sho’s been working for the other man to know how and when to indulge him when he’s in the middle of his childish fits, coughing lightly into his fist for good measure.   
  
Sho should have known that it was President Matsumoto’s subtle name-dropping that pissed his boss off, the mention of Ninomiya’s name on their otherwise business-as-usual conversation that tipped Ohno off despite the fact that Ohno was trying his hardest not to show it.   
  
Sho saw it in the way the edges of Ohno’s eyes widened marginally and his mouth curled upwards when President Matsumoto had casually asked after Ninomiya, how he is doing now that he’s working in Samii-jima hotels as if they were close friends. Sho is certain that his boss’ reaction has everything to do with the fact that President Matsumoto, his long-time rival and nemesis, just revealed that he’d long been acquainted with Ohno’s newly-hired employee (whom he also fancies despite the fact that he will never admit it out loud).    
  
And it is beginning to alarm Sho more than he supposed it should.    
  
He and Okada share meaningful glances between them, both of them used to Ohno’s frequent bouts of childishness and weird antics but this one is something new. They are both aware about Ohno’s uncaring attitude when it comes to things that doesn’t interest him – marriage, women, his father – of how Ohno never hesitate to say what’s on his mind no matter the consequences, but eversince he met Ninomiya, things have gotten a little…strange.    
  
“Didn’t he say he was working at the Grand Hyatt?” Ohno follows, pouting royally.     
  
Sho turns to give his boss a look. “Who was?” he asks, opting on acting like he has no idea what Ohno is so pissed about; it’s safer that way, after all.    
  
Ohno huffs, eyebrows knitted together. “Ninomiya-san.”   
  
Sho tilts his head and tries his hardest to look confused. “That was what he said, yes,” he agrees, frowning.   
  
Ohno’s scowl deepens. “Right? So my question is, how did he end up acquainted with Matsumoto Gold-face Jun when he was working in a hotel several countries away from Japan? How?”   
  
“I seem to recall there’s a branch of Stay Gold in Singapore, too,” Sho counters, biting his tongue a little too late.    
  
Ohno looks sorely affronted, if not more than a little pissed. “So? Are you saying they met there or something? Like, maybe they’re dating?”   
  
“I’m not saying anything,” Sho sighs. Ohno mutters something unintelligible under his breath, pulling his legs up the seat, arms crossed tightly over his chest.   
  
Sho sighs and wonders how long he has to pretend he doesn’t know what the fuck is going on with his boss.   
  
  
+   
  
“What do mean you don’t want to go?” Aiba says, eyes wide and confused; Nino sighs. There may be a pretty good reason why fate decided to put him and Aiba in the same company together, the same reason why he ended up somewhere he didn’t have any reason to be (back then when he accidentally walked in on an ongoing interview and was hired on the spot) but sometimes, even he had doubts. Especially when Aiba’s usual (and hopefully unintentional) antics are enough to make Nino blush and wish he doesn’t like the other man enough to be his friend.    
  
He shrugs nonchalantly and finds himself frowning at the President’s office through the glass window, through the slightly-opened blinds. Unconsciously, Nino’s gaze darts back to his computer to check the time and realizes it is already quarter past four. Just a few minutes before work is over, but the President and his assistant aren’t back yet.   
  
Nino finds himself frowning before he realizes what he is doing.   
  
“I didn’t say I don’t want to go,” he lies; he loathes joining those company gatherings, after all, hates socializing in general, especially with people he doesn’t have any intention of getting acquainted with outside of work. “It’s just that there’s an urgent and very important thing I have to attend to that night that I can’t afford to miss. I’m really sorry.” He apologizes, not really meaning it but he figures Aiba’s not that bright to tell the difference anyway.   
  
“But Chief said we should be there, especially you and I,” Aiba counters, “It’s our sort-of welcome party, you know? We should go.” Aiba insists.   
  
“I can’t,” he says, “I’m really sorry, Aiba-san.”   
  
Aiba looks positively upset. Nino wants to feel bad for him but he can’t; Aiba will get over it, and Nino is mostly assured Aiba will enjoy the party more if Nino’s not there. He wouldn’t want to attract attention to himself once his co-workers realize he’s not talking, after all, and the last thing Nino wants is for anyone to think he’s weird.    
  
Well, he is weird, and he’s not about to deny that now; to be honest, he prefers to be alone rather than force himself to hang out with anyone he has no interest in, though that certain thing only works with people with perfectly working brains and equally-working social radar.    
  
People who are the exact opposite of Aiba.   
  
“Awww, that’s really sad, Nino-chan,” Aiba says, lower lip quivering. “I thought we’ll be able to celebrate our new job together.”   
  
He nods in agreement, for Aiba’s sake. Then, like an afterthought, “Tell you what, how about we go out for drinks sometime next week? Like post-celebration or something, just you and me.”   
  
Aiba blinks and then grins. “Your treat?”    
  
Nino scowls. “Well then you can forget about it –“   
  
“I was kidding, Nino-chan, geez!” Aiba bristles, but he is grinning from ear to ear. Nino shakes his head and realizes he is grinning too. “So, next week? Just you and I and all the alcohol we can consume, yes?”   
  
He chuckles. “It’s a date, Aiba-san.”   
  
“Yay -”   
  
“Ninomiya-san, Aiba-san,” the President’s voice booms from somewhere behind them, effectively cutting  Aiba’s premature celebration off and prompting the rest of them to leave their seats in favor of standing up and greeting the President. “Did I just hear you say ‘date’?”   
  
Aiba remains quietly still next to him, head ducked low as Nino bravely raises his own to find the President’s gaze darting between him and Aiba. He opens his mouth to explain, but the President beats him to it.    
  
“Well, anyway, I know it’s not mentioned in any clauses of your contracts but since the topic has been inappropriately brought up…” President Ohno says, eyebrows drawn together as he throws Aiba and Nino a glare that makes Nino feel like he’s done something gravely wrong to warrant the way the President is scowling at him.   “I am forbidding any kind of romance entanglements in this office,” President Ohno announces, eyes locked on Nino’s face for a long moment before he turns to walk the rest of the way inside, stopping right in front of Nino’s table.    
  
“Effective today,” the President finishes, lips pursed and eyes narrowed in a way that makes him look so damn hot (at least in Nino’s opinion) before the man twists around and stalks his way towards his office without another word, Sakurai Sho hot on his heels.   
  
Nino soon finds his officemates giving him and Aiba curious stares.   
  
He shakes his head and wonders what in hell just happened.   
  
  
+   
  
  
“You’re not serious, are you?” Sho says once he has put Ohno’s coffee down on the table and he had allowed himself few minutes to observe Ohno’s face, the thoughtful frown marring his forehead. It took Ohno a long moment to realize he’s being asked, shakes himself out of daze and flicks his gaze at Sho, feigning confusion.    
  
“Serious? About what?”   
  
“Your very sudden and honestly surprising announcement regarding office romance, remember?” Sho says.    
  
Ohno guiltily tears his gaze away from him and reaches for his coffee. Sho watches him take a careful sip.   
  
“Umm, yeah? I guess I am.” Ohno mumbles, sounding entirely unsure. Sho wants to roll his eyes at him but hold himself.    
  
There are so many things he wants to say but settles on, “So, if, say I like someone from this office, are you saying I can’t date him?”    
  
“Do you?” Ohno counters, frowning.   
  
“No,” Sho says, spying Ohno’s mouth twitching just the tiniest bit.    
  
“So what’s the problem?” Ohno says, sounding irritated. It seems to Sho that Ohno has just realized the impact of what he’s done but is too annoyed to even care.    
  
Sho’s own brows twitch. “Nothing,” Sho says, “I just want to make sure you know that it means you have to follow those rules, too. You do realize that, don’t you?”   
  
Ohno makes a face, the one that makes him look about ten and says, “Of course I do, Sho-kun.”   
  
Sho swallows the urge to snicker and opts on, “Fine. I’ll prepare the official memo, then.”   
  
Ohno waves him off as he turns his chair away with a scowl. Sho wonders if it’s better to keep the Memo in his table for a few days before he emails the copy to everyone.   
  
  
+   
  
It’s already half past six. Everyone has already gone home but Nino has spent the remains of the past hour in the conference room, working on the proposal he has to submit to Chief Matsuoka the day after tomorrow.    
  
Deciding on doing the final revisions early tomorrow morning, Nino gets up and clears the table, mentally reminding himself about getting Chief Matsuoka’s approval with regards to meeting the designer later tomorrow afternoon. He made sure the conference room is tidy as he turns off the light and heads to his table to grab his bag, vaguely wondering if the President is still in his office but decides he doesn’t really care.   
  
He is just about to open the door and let himself out when the President’s voice calls his name, startling him.   
  
“Ninomiya-san,”   
  
He turns, and finds the President leaning against the doorframe of his office, his tie loosened and his face unreadable. Nino vaguely notices the way the President’s hands are shoved in the pockets of his expensive trouser, eyes locked on Nino’s face.   
  
“Sir?”    
  
“I didn’t know you’re still here,” the President says.   
  
Nino shrugs, unable to believe the President. “I must say the same thing to you, Sir,” he says, smiling a little. He’s not at all sure if the President will welcome his teasing but it’s that or fidgets awkwardly there as the President levers him with a stare that has his stomach twisting in knots. “But I’ll be going now. I have to be somewhere in about…” he pauses to check his watch. “an hour and a half.”   
  
Something passes through the President’s eyes that confuse Nino slightly. “A date?” the other man says, eyes serious and his tone equally so. “With Aiba-san, I presume.”   
  
Nino shakes his head, remembering the incident earlier, his sudden pronouncement with regards to office romance.    
  
“Well, no,” he says, meeting the President’s eyes straight on. “I have no plans on dating Aiba-san, or anyone in this office for that matter,” he says, pausing only to hitch his bag up his shoulder. He couldn’t tell what the President is thinking, but it is obvious in the way his eyebrows twitch that he’s not at all expecting Nino to say these things or, whatever.   
  
The President frowns. “But you and Aiba-san –“    
  
“ – agreed to go out for drinks because I told him I’m not going to be able to make it to that sort-of welcome party for us tomorrow night,” Nino cuts in. “So, you know, it’s not like we’re dating. I just agreed to go out with him for a few drinks, is all.”   
  
“Oh,”    
  
Nino bows, unable to quell the lingering feeling that he just did (or said?) something right, at last. Because the almost permanent frown marring the President’s forehead is gone the next time Nino raises his head and in its place, a little smile that makes Nino’s heartbeat accelerate.   
  
“Well, I’m going now,” Nino says, smiling back and bowing his head again. “Thank you for your hard work today.”   
  
If the President said something back, Nino’s not sure. He is out the door, trying to keep himself from blushing as he closes it behind him, pulse quick and breathing uneven, wondering what in hell just happened.


	3. Chapter 3

  
“Is he going somewhere tonight or just straight to the gym?” Okada asks, keeping his voice low as he sips on his coffee. “Did he tell you?” Sho gives him a look, shakes his head and shrugs, turning his attention back to the memo he is typing on his laptop.    
  
Well, Sho is wondering about that too, especially since Ohno hadn’t mentioned anything about his supposed dinner date that Sho arranged for him a few days ago.   
  
“It’s almost seven now but –“   
  
“Okada!” Ohno calls, more like half-yells and Sho watches the way Okada almost, almost spills coffee all over himself as he abruptly sits up. Sho did the same, worried for all of two seconds until Ohno came into full view, half-grinning and looking so very different from the scowling President minutes before.    
  
“Sir, what -!”   
  
“Ohno-san, what hap–“   
  
Ohno points at the door, ignoring Sho entirely; Sho wonders what in hell happened to him. “Okada, go!” Ohno says, fingers trembling as Okada do as he’s told, walking quickly towards the door and only remembering to ask where he supposed he should go when he’s almost halfway out the door.    
  
“Um, go where Sir?”   
  
Ohno looks positively vibrating with excitement or something else Sho isn’t sure, at least until Ohno follows Okada to the door and points, hissing…   
  
“Ninomiya-san!” Ohno says, inarticulately, still pointing. “He just left! Follow him!”   
  
Okada gave himself exactly two seconds to gape before he is bowing his head and turning around, half-running to the door without another word.   
  
When Ohno turns to him, he looks eagerly pleased with himself for all of five seconds before he blushes an awful shade of red and looks down and away, shoving his hands on the pocket of his pants.   
  
“Um.”   
  
Sho crosses his hands over his chest and levers his boss a look that speaks volume.    
  
“So, are you going to tell me what in hell you’re doing, Sir?”   
  
Ohno’s grin is unrepentant, his cheeks suffused with pink as he slouches his way to Sho’s table like a creep.   
  
“Maybe later,” Ohno says, “But for now, Sho-kun, I need you to call the taxi service and tell them to send one over quickly.” Ohno says, still grinning like a lunatic as he produces his phone and unlocks it. Sho throws his boss a dubious look, then frowns when Ohno slaps his phone to his ear and starts talking to none other than Okada on the other line.   
  
“Did you find him, Okada?” Ohno asks, holding Sho’s gaze. A beat, a few seconds pause and Sho watches Ohno grin some more. “Okay, stay with him. Let me know exactly where to go and we’ll follow you there.” Ohno says, before he hangs up.    
  
“Seriously, what –“   
  
“Call the taxi service and tell them we need one right away. Oh, and make sure to grab my bag, okay,” Ohno tells him, already shoving his way out the door before Sho can even finish his sentence, “I’ll wait for you at the lobby.”   
  
“But Ohno-san, Sir –“ Sho starts to say but Ohno is no longer listening. He is throwing himself out of the door before Sho can even ask him where they are going.   
  
  
+   
  
Under half an hour later, Nino is standing at the back door of Club Reminisce, forcing himself to smile while avoiding eye-contact with Maruyama. It’s a wonder, really, how this guy ended up always guarding the back door when he knows Nino is scheduled to come over, especially when he should be out front with Naruse, fending off drunken customers and minors before they even manage two steps to the door.   
  
“Ninomiya-kun, how are you tonight?” Maruyama asks, twisting around in his chair like an embarrassed snake and grinning like it is his birthday. Nino tries to cover his grimace with a smile but he’s afraid he is failing.    
  
He always finds it difficult not to face-palm when he is talking with Maruyama, or be disgusted, what with how obviously infatuated Maruyama is with him. It’s kind of amusing, and maybe a little bit scary, but Nino tries not to dwell on it much. After all, Maruyama hasn’t done anything awfully terrifying (like stalking Nino the way his last fling in Singapore did), enough for Nino to do something drastic like contacting the police and requesting some sort of restraining order to keep Maruyama away from him.   
  
“Hey, Maru,” he greets, “I’m good. Better than yesterday, at least,” he tells Maruyama, who beams at him like he’s just given the man a kiss instead of return greeting.    
  
Maruyama clings onto the guardpost and makes this face that has Nino backing up a step before he realizes it.    
  
“That’s good, that’s good, yes, so, um,” Maruyama says, and Nino knows he will follow it with an invitation so without waiting permission from the other man, Nino is stepping inside and bypassing him with a curt, “Yes, I’ll see you around, Maru. Bye.” Shutting the door to his face and quickly striding inside without bothering glancing back.   
  
When Nino gets there, he is greeted by another familiar face when he reaches the backstage.    
  
“Ninomiya-kun, hey,” greets Yamada, already on his regulation black tight pants and equally tight shirt. “You’re up after Jiggly Puff, okay? Matsuko Deluxe-san wants to put you last but the audience is already complaining. I think you may have to do four sets today, if you’re up for it.”   
  
Nino shrugs. It’s not like he hasn’t prepared enough materials to go for six if he has to.    
  
“I don’t mind,” he tells Yamada, as one of the regulars there hands him his gear. Nino feels his way around the familiar contour of it and smiles to himself.    
  
Yamada gives him a smile and a thumbs up. “I’ll tell the boss, then.”   
  
Nino nods. “Thank you.”   
  
  
+   
  
Sho is confused.    
  
“Ohno-san, Sir, will you please tell me what in the world we are doing here?” asks Sho, completely baffled; it doesn’t help that Ohno looks a little bit unsure himself as the three of them – him, Ohno and Okada – are being led inside the dimly-lighted club/bar they ended up in after half an hour since Ohno told Okada to go, almost bumping against drunken patrons on their way to their supposed table.    
  
Ohno says nothing and Okada takes that as his cue to explain. “This is where Ninomiya-san went, Sho-san,”    
  
That confuses Sho even more. “Are you sure?” he asks, “I mean, I don’t see any reason why Ninomiya-san would end up in a place like this one and if he even –“ he adds, but ends up gaping instead when the person they were following happens to be there up on stage, guitar in hand and smiling serenely at no one in particular.   
  
Next to him, Ohno looks on with hearts in his eyes.    
  
“Sho-kun, Sho-kun, is he going to play? Is he going to sing, is he –“   
  
Ninomiya starts playing and Ohno shuts up almost immediately.   
  
Ohno’s hand finds Sho’s elbow and begins tugging at him like a kid asking for something. Sho knows this is where the trouble begins.   
  
“Okada,” Ohno says, looking dreamily at Nino now singing on stage, without bothering glancing at Okada.    
  
“Yes, Sir?”   
  
“Flowers,” Ohno mumbles, as Sho takes his phone out as if on cue. “One bouquet of roses and tulips. Now.” Ohno says. Sho taps on his contact list and finds the number for the florist and sighs.   
  
“I’ll be back with it, Sir.”   
  
“Okay.”   
  
Sho resigns himself to an evening of Ninomiya singing heartfelt (and sometimes out-of-tune) songs while Ohno sits there, his hand clutching Sho’s elbow.


	4. Chapter 4

There’s a bunch of flowers and a paper bag that smells wonderful waiting for him when he went back to the backstage to get his things.   
  
He only stands there for about a minute, frowning at the surprising sight when Yamada materializes behind him and nudges him quite playfully on the rib.   
  
“What –“ he turns, feigning annoyance, Yamada cutting him off quickly with a teasing jab to his chest this time.    
  
“Ninomiya-kun, those are from your fan,” Yamada says, beaming. “He didn’t say who he was, only that he knows you.”   
  
Nino narrows his eyes at Yamada, wondering if he should believe the other guy or if he should tell him to keep the flowers and the obviously expensive, mouth-watering food to himself because there’s no way he is going to take them. The warning bells in Nino’s head are wailing alarmingly as Nino surveys his table and the flowers sitting on top of it, remembering the same scenario from months before, back when he was still in Singapore.   
  
He doesn’t want to scare himself, especially since he is certain that Toma is not in Japan at the moment, and has no plans to go back home anytime soon (as what he’d told Nino when they were still dating) but even he has doubts. It’s not that hard for the other man to figure out that Nino had fled Singapore in order to avoid him, and has somehow decided to come home without telling anybody.    
  
“I – D-Do you remember what…what the person looks like?” he asks.    
  
Yamada nods. “And?” Nino’s chest is heaving and he knows it isn’t only because he’s worried. He’s beginning to feel that all-too-familiar fear gripping him from the inside, as Yamada goes on to describe the person who left him the bag of food and flowers.   
  
“For a Japanese, the guy sure is good-looking,” Yamada starts, “Long-haired, prominently square jawline –“   
  
_ Oh, shit. _   
  
“ – and holy fucking sexy and mouth-watering toned arm muscles that I was only able to take a glimpse of when he took off his suit and –“ _Suit? Toned arm muscles?_   
  
“Wait, wait, wait,” he stops Yamada with a wave of his hand and frowns. He was fairly sure about Toma having long hair and prominently square jawline, but the guy never, not even once during their admittedly short association with each other, wore a suit or even has toned arm muscles to boast about. Sure, Toma has muscles in those few places that count, but his arms don’t. They maybe toned, yes, but sexy and mouth-watering? He doesn’t think so.   
  
Could it be that he was scaring himself for nothing?    
  
“Is he like, tall?” Nino finds himself muttering. “Like, marginally taller than both of us?”   
  
“Well, not really,”    
  
Nino frowns. “A little bit on the toned but skinny side?”   
  
Yamada is frowning too. He shakes his head. “No, he’s like, really, really buff.”   
  
“Huh?” Nino says, eloquently.   
  
“He’s pretty and he’s got this cute, little chipmunk smile that makes you want to pet him but he also looks intelligent and –“ Yamada trails here and somehow, Nino realizes why when Yamada beams and points at someone behind Nino. “He’s here!”   
  
Nino does a quarter-turn without even waiting permission for his brain and frowns some more at the person standing awkwardly and waving at him by the backstage entrance.   
  
“S-Sakurai-san?”   
  
  
+   
  
Sho is not entirely sure what in hell he is doing.    
  
Or maybe he does, he thinks drily as he watches Ninomiya walks the short way towards him, forehead creased with confusion that Sho couldn’t exactly blame him for; it’s not that difficult to realize he’s been tasked to do stupid things, especially when his boss is acting like a creepy teenager with a crush.    
  
The thing is, this is the first time he found his boss like this, so conflicted but so obviously smitten it’s somewhat entirely adorable if not frustrating. Adorable because Sho’s never seen Ohno act like this before, even with those few women he openly dated and had even thought of marrying just for the heck of it. No, because the second Ohno’s gaze found Ninomiya, he was completely thrown off by the sheer intensity of his attraction for the other man that the fact alone is doing things to him – strange things – that Ohno himself doesn’t realize he is doing.    
  
“S-Sakurai-san?” says Ninomiya, who looks vaguely confused; Sho bows his head and wishes there is some other way to do this without making it look like the lot of them are in highschool. It sure feels like that now though, what with the fact that Ohno sent him here to meet Ninomiya so he could ask him to – _ugh_ , Sho doesn’t even want to think about it without ending up gagging in sheer embarrassment.    
  
“Ninomiya-san,” he greets, ignoring the obvious questions in Ninomiya’s eyes. He settles for the subtle head-tilt maneuver, pursing his lips and waiting until Ninomiya is close enough for him to hear the other man.   
  
“Y-You – what are you doing here?” Ninomiya asks; Sho wants to congratulate him for acting like he doesn’t know what is happening.   
  
“We just happened to know you’ll be performing here so we decided to come,” he lies through his teeth; Ninomiya only looks more confused. “You were pretty good.”   
  
Ninomiya crosses his arms over his chest and Sho gives himself a few minutes to wonder what in hell Ohno saw in this man. Surely, it’s not just the face, though that’s already a dead give away; his eyes, maybe?    
  
“So is it true?” Ninomiya asks, “Are the flowers and the food from you?” Ninomiya follows; Sho wonders why the other man sounded positively pissed.   
  
Sho knows he should lie, but there is something in Ninomiya’s eyes that made him pause; somehow, he knows that telling Ninomiya the truth might cost him either his job or Ohno punching the fuck out of him but he guesses he can worry about it later.   
  
He bows his head and jabs a finger behind him, wishing he is not making the biggest mistake of his life by saying,   
  
“No, they’re from the President,” Sho says, “He’s at the VIP room waiting for you.”   
  
  
+   
  
Nino doesn’t even bother knocking.   
  
He pushes the door open and watches, amused, as the President literally stumbles on his seat in haste, obviously not expecting anyone, least of all Nino, barging into the VIP room he’d cozily rented for himself.   
  
Nino doesn’t really care.    
  
But he does wonder why the President is here, of all the fucking places when Nino supposed no one knows he performs here, and why he went out of his way to gift Nino with flowers, with food.    
  
“N-Ninomiya-san, w-what are you –“   
  
“I should ask you the same thing, Sir,” Nino says, arching his eyebrows at the President, who is currently unsure whether he wants to sit down or not. Nino wonders why he thinks it’s cute. “How did you guys know I perform here? Did anyone – no, that’s not possible. No one even knows I –“   
  
“Didn’t Sakurai-san tell you?” Ohno seems to recover himself; he is also gazing at Nino quite meaningfully that has Nino suddenly wondering he’s the one at fault.    
  
“Tell me what, exactly?”   
  
Ohno considers  him for a second or two, then points at the chair opposite the one he was sitting down before Nino came barging into the room.    
  
“Why don’t you take a seat, Ninomiya-san?” Ohno asks, “Anything you want to drink, or eat? We can order –“   
  
“Ohno-san, Sir, you haven’t answered my question yet,” he reminds Ohno, who looks sheepish for a moment before he tsks and plops down on the plush couch, crossing his legs and throwing his arms over the couch’s back, looking at him through lowered lashes.    
  
“About why we’re here?”   
  
Nino nods. “Yes, Sir.”   
  
Ohno looks a little hesitant for a second before he tilts his head and says something that makes Nino’s stomach bolt up to his throat.   
  
“We do background checks on all of our employees,” Ohno explains, not meeting Nino’s eyes. “That’s how we found out you’re performing here. We came to –“   
  
“If that’s the case, I’m gonna have to ask you to leave, Sir,” Nino says, trying to stay polite even though the rest of him is shaking. He’s so mad and it’s not at all surprising what’s causing it.    
  
“Eh?”   
  
“Please leave,” Nino says, hands balled into fists as he starts to back away to the door. “You have no business being here. And thank you for watching my performance, but if it’s okay, please don’t ever come here again. Please.” He says, bowing his head and turning on his heels, only vaguely worried he’s going to lose his job but couldn’t find the strength nor the brain cells to think about it now as he heads straight out of the door.


	5. Chapter 5

  
“What happened?” asks Sho; he sounded strange from Ohno’s ungraceful sprawl on the couch, slumped face-first against the tabletop. “Sir? Are you okay?” follows Sho, sounding marginally worried now.    
  
Ohno hums in answer but doesn’t move from where he’s still sprawled on the tabletop like a drunken salary-man out on a Friday night. Well, it is a Friday night and he is still technically a salary man despite the fact that he owns the company he’s working at and, fuck why does it matter anyway? He feels a little frustrated, maybe a tiny  bit miserable, and drunk and stupid and… God, he feels like a complete idiot.   
  
“Sho-kun,”   
  
“Yes, Sir?”   
  
“I’m an idiot, aren’t I?” he mumbles into the tabletop, vaguely hearing the sounds of Sho’s footsteps across the tiled floors and is only aware of how damn stupid he feels at the moment. He shouldn’t have lied to Ninomiya about anything, or maybe he could, to some extent, at least; he shouldn’t have opened his big mouth and lied about the background check thing because for one, it didn’t happen, and two, because no one would certainly appreciate being background checked just for a damn job.   
  
Not unless you were applying to be the Prime Minister’s bodyguard, of course.   
  
“Excuse me?” asks Sho.    
  
He heaves a sigh and shifts to bury his face into his hands. “You didn’t see Ninomiya-san on your way here?” he asks. “You just missed him.”   
  
“No, Sir,” says Sho; “Was that the reason you called?” Sho adds, sounding confused if not worried, still.    
  
He nods his head before he belatedly realized Sho possibly won’t see it. “Yes,” he grunts, miserably into the palm of his hand. “I made him angry.”   
  
“Eh?”   
  
He raises his head this time, just high enough to give Sho a look. “He suddenly barged in and I was…I was surprised,” he explains, waving a hand at the door. Sho looks on with interest. “I didn’t know what to do. I don’t even know how he ended up knowing I’m here in the first place.”   
  
“Ohno-san, that’s –“   
  
“Well, anyway, the thing is, he asked me why we were here and how we came to know he was performing here and I kinda blurted out that I knew it way before because it was customary that we background check every employee,” he says, eyes locked on some spot on the door but without actually seeing it. “I… he told me to leave. And to never come here again,” he adds. “I’m _so_ stupid.”   
  
There’s a long pause before Sho says, quiet. “No, you aren’t,” says Sho. “You just like Ninomiya-san so much and that’s…everything feel so new that you’re not sure how to handle it. And that’s okay. It’s okay.” Sho says. Ohno doesn’t even try to deny it, finds that he doesn’t care anymore.   
  
Suddenly, he feels so helpless, like he’s nine again and is trying to pretend he doesn’t care that his father’s an alcoholic and has ended up driving his mother out of the house, out of their life, because he shouldn’t feel that way anymore. He _shouldn’t,_ but he _is_ ; he does.    
  
And it’s all because of Ninomiya.   
  
He pushes his face into his hands and wishes for it to go away.   
  
+   
  
He gets as far as the back alley door before he stops, realizes he is shaking from head to toe in combined fear and anger. The former being an understandable fact given the circumstances he had to suffer trying to avoid Toma back when he was still in Singapore, and the latter for having his (admittedly cute) new employer admitting to have someone background-checked Nino like he’s some kind of criminal.    
  
Though, to be honest, Nino figured he didn’t have to go as far as telling his boss to leave this place, nor he has any right to. He doesn’t own the place, after all, and as far as technicalities go, Ohno is just a customer here and therefore has every right to come here as he pleases.    
  
“Shit,” he curses, finds himself slumped against the back alley’s wall wondering what he should do. For one, he is now deeply worried he’d just fired himself by telling his boss off a little while ago and somehow, that is enough cause for concern whether he should go to work on Monday or not.    
  
He is considering this when his phone vibrating in his pocket startles him, fishing around his pocket for it, almost dropping it the second he realizes who is calling.   
  
Unsurprisingly, it’s the President’s assistant, Sakurai Sho.    
  
Willing his fingers not to shake (and failing), he slides his thumb over the call icon and slaps the phone to his ear.   
  
“H-Hello?”   
  
“ _Ninomiya-san, it’s Sakurai. Are you free to talk?”_   
  
Nino blinks at the dark space before him, unable to articulate what he’s being asked and simply opts on a shaky, “Yes,” before he realized what he’d said. Fuck.   
  
“ _Very well_ ,” says Sakurai, levelly; Nino finds himself shutting his eyes and expecting to be told not to report to work next Monday, probably coated with some elaborate words mainly consisted with _you’re an idiot and who did you think you just told to fuck off?!_ until he realized Sakurai is speaking again. “ _I’m just calling to ask where you are right now and if you’re free to invite you out for dinner?”_   
  
“I – you w-what?” Nino is confused. Is this how the President of Samii-jima Hotels fires an employee? Doing it over dinner?    
  
“ _The President insists. He feels like he had upset you, unintentionally of course, and he wants to, um, convey his sincerest apologies by treating you out to dinner_ ,” Sakurai says, diplomatically. “ _and he specifically told me I am not to accept No for an answer, just so you know.”_   
  
“But Sakurai-san, I –“   
  
_ “I’m not going to force you to do this, Ninomiya-san, if you really don’t want to. I’m not saying I understand what you’re feeling right now either, what with what you heard from the President, but honestly, I’m not asking you for this just for the heck of it. Ohno-san, he’s…well, he’s a little eccentric and maybe a little stupid but he knows when he’s wrong and when he should apologize for doing it. So, I don’t know, I’m just saying would it hurt if you try and let him?” _ says Sakurai, “ _Apologize, that is.”_   
  
Nino certainly wasn’t expecting this. “I was actually thinking of the opposite,” he tells Sakurai, who only lets out a confused little _‘huh’_ in answer. “I thought you were calling to say I won’t have to come to work on Monday. That I’ve just been fired for mouthing off the President tonight.”   
  
Sakurai lets out an amused little chuckle from the other end of the line; Nino feels somewhat embarrassed for thinking of the worst, but somehow realizes he couldn’t exactly help it.    
  
_ “It wasn’t your fault, really,” _ says Sakurai, sounding amused and kind of delighted. Nino wonders what triggered it. “ _Well, at least not entirely,”_ Sakurai amends. _“But anyway, the invitation to dinner still stands so if you can be so kindly tell me where you are, we’ll drive around and pick you up.”_   
  
Nino breathes and tries to summon the courage to speak, enough to tell Sakurai where he is whilst fighting the urge to hang up instead. He can’t, because as much as he hates to admit he’s wrong for saying the things he’d said, to his Employer nonetheless, he knows for certain that it’s not just it. Nino will be lying if he says he’s just angry for what the President had said, because he’s not. He’s hurt and that alone should terrify him, because pain isn’t his default setting when it comes to people mistreating him. It never was, but the stinging pain he felt right after the President told him about the background check thing was awfully familiar; as was the way he had tried to cover his fear with fury.      
  
From the other end of the line, Sakurai sounded surprised to find that he is still actually in the vicinity of the bar and hadn’t managed to leave just yet.   
  
“ _Okay, just stay put and we’ll be right there_ ,” Sakurai says as he somehow managed to tell the driver where to go while still talking to Nino. Nino sighs and forces himself away from the wall he’d been leaning against, wishing he’s not about to make one more fucking mistake tonight by agreeing to meet his employer over at dinner.   
  
  
+   
  
He can’t sit still.    
  
It’s only been under half an hour since he last saw Ninomiya, under half an hour since the other man had literally told him to fuck off. His fingers are sweating and there’s this stupid fluttering in his stomach that makes him feel like puking but it can also mean something else.    
  
Ohno doesn’t want to dwell on it much, not when he knows he only ever feel the same thing when he is the same room with Ninomiya.   
  
“Sir, are you okay?” asks Sho from his seat next to Okada, who is currently maneuvering the car through a tiny alleyway Ohno doesn’t remember seeing earlier when they were there. “You’re sweating bullets and your face is so red, are you sure you’re not going to be sick? Shall we stop for a bit so you can, I don’t know, throw up on the side of the road or something?”   
  
“Sho-kun, that is disgusting,” he manages to blurt despite the fact that he’s probably two seconds away from suggesting the same thing.    
  
Sho snorts unapologetically from where he is. “How about we roll the windows down? Maybe you need some fresh air.” Says Sho at the same time Okada presses the button as if on cue.   
  
“I’m fine.” He grunts, though he is already pushing his face out of the window once it rolled down, inhaling gratefully, only to pause and squeak like a rat that has been cornered by a huge cat the second his gaze found Ninomiya’s slouched form standing there in the semi-darkness.   
  
“Oh, Ninomiya-san is here,” Sho points out at the same time Okada pulls the car over. Ohno’s stomach starts twisting painfully again and he knows it has everything to do with the fact that Ninomiya has started jogging over to where they are, rounding the way to the passenger’s seat and bowing his head apologetically at Ohno.   
  
“Sir,”   
  
Ohno swallows hard and forces his limbs  to work as he raises one hand and waves at Ninomiya.    
  
“Y-Yo!”   
  
“Tell him to get in, Sir,” whispers Sho from his seat; Ohno blinks at him and vaguely sees Sho rolling his eyes in return, obviously aware that if he doesn’t take over, Ninomiya will end up with a sore back (what with how he still has his head bowed low) and the lot of them starving.   
  
“Ninomiya-san, please get in. You can round the other way and use the other door, if you please,” he vaguely hears Sho, his eyes still somewhat glued on Ninomiya as Ninomiya straightens up and nods his head.   
  
He follows Ninomiya as he rounds the other way, unable to say anything as Ninomiya opens the door and whispers a quiet, “Please pardon me,” before he gets in.   
  
Ohno finds himself mumbling a quiet, “Uh, yeah, sure,” pushing himself further into the door, feeling like a complete lunatic as he sits there, eyes at the back of Okada’s head and Ninomiya sitting quietly next to him.


	6. Chapter 6

  
The under half an hour drive to the President’s house – and this baffled Nino to no end the moment Sakurai told him where they were going – was probably the most awkward (almost) half hour ride of Nino’s life. The President had refused to even spare Nino a glance during the interim, opting on focusing his gaze on a patch of something Nino was certain only the President could see at the back of his driver’s head.    
  
Nino was grateful that Sakurai Sho was there to at least start a conversation when no one dared to. Nino was so busy trying not to go ‘ _bugger bugger’_ under his breath, or yell at the driver to stop the car so he could stomp his way out because however he looked at it, the President obviously wasn’t all that fond with the idea of having Nino there, or so Nino had figured during the few minutes he spent sitting next to the man.   
  
He’s not at all sure if Sakurai was just playing him when he was asked to join the President over dinner, especially when all the President did during the small talks Sakurai managed every now and then was to throw in those awkward, ‘ _Uh, yeah?_ ’ of his, while making those _I’m-not-sure-why-I’m-doing-this-really_ faces that was honestly too adorable for Nino’s taste, and how would that even help Nino from wanting to get out of the car as quickly as he could manage it?   
  
It didn’t; and that’s how Nino found himself standing awkwardly at the front of entrance of the President’s house (or more accurately, mansion) half an hour later, contemplating between running off at the first chance he gets while Sakurai left him there at the front with the President with a curt, “I’ll take your bag inside, Sir.”    
  
Nino sighs. It’s entirely too obviously that there is something going on here that Nino is either too dumb or too absentminded to decipher, if the looks Sakurai and the President keep throwing at each other have any indication. It’s a little frustrating, since Nino is supposed to be good at reading people but that little talent of his obviously doesn’t work well with the President.    
  
When Nino chances a glance to his right, he realizes his boss is nearly crouched on the floor, obviously trying to retrieve something from there, his fabulous ass framed through his fine-tailored trousers on display for Nino to thoroughly appreciate. There’s a sigh he’s not able to suppress, biting his tongue just in time for the President to resurface, turning round to offer Nino a pair of yellow house slippers.   
  
“Um, this,” the President mutters, not quite meeting Nino’s eyes; Nino stares at the pair of slippers dumbly until the President nudges his hands, gesturing with his lips pouting (too cute!) and Nino turns his palm over, spreading it wide and watching the President’s long-fingered hands putting the new pair of slippers in his hands. “I think that pair will fit you.”   
  
Nino finds himself nodding in answer, the corners of his mouth curling just the slightest bit into a smile without him realizing it.   
  
“I think it will,” he says, only vaguely wondering if it will, while thinking it doesn’t really matter if it doesn’t; the President going out of his way to be a very hospitable host despite the circumstances (and his obvious awkwardness being around Nino) and Nino’s heart does that unfamiliar twisting and turning inside his chest. He raises his head and meets the President’s gaze straight on and smiles.    
  
“Thank you.”   
  
Nino’s not sure of it but he swears the President blushes awfully red and his mouth quirks into a would-be smile but settles on ducking his chin instead and muttering a hushed, “Uh, don’t mention it,” before he gestures with his hand, prompting Nino to walk before him inside.   
  
Nino chuckles and nods, puts the slippers down at the same time he tugs his shoes off, feeling the President’s eyes lingering on him even though he couldn’t see him.   
  
  
  
+   
  
Sho is in the middle of punching in the number of the President’s favorite Japanese restaurant when a shapely and trembling hand stops him.    
  
When he looks up, he realizes with a start that it is Ohno. “Sir?”   
  
Ohno shakes his head and takes the phone out of Sho’s grip, tossing the readily available menus on the counter and putting the phone over them.    
  
“You’re going to order, right?” Ohno says as Sho watches him roll his sleeves up before subtly jerking his chin towards the direction of the living room doorway where Ninomiya has appeared as if out of nowhere. “ _Don’t.”_   
  
Sho’s confusion probably ends up on his face the second after because even before he is able to come up with anything, Ohno has already turned his back on him and is currently checking the contents of his normally stock-filled fridge.   
  
“I’m cooking us dinner, so there’s no need to order,” Ohno says without bothering looking back, “Make yourself at home, Sho-kun.” Ohno says, then lowly Sho almost didn’t hear him, Ohno adds, “You can show Ninomiya-san around, if you want to.”   
  
Sho tries not to smile too hard at that but knows that he is marginally failing. He covers it with a light cough and steps back.    
  
“Only if it’s okay, Sir.”   
  
“Go ahead,” Ohno says without even missing a beat. “Show him around and I’ll call you guys when dinner is ready.”   
  
  
+   
  
Ohno tries to busy himself with cooking, but it’s difficult when his mind is wandering over at Ninomiya, who is currently being led around the house by Sho. He can vaguely hear the sound of Sho’s voice as it carries through the house, louder than what is probably necessary, and can’t help but wonder what Ninomiya is thinking while Sho is touring him around Ohno’s house like a good little real estate agent that he’s obviously not.    
  
It’s not to say that Sho’s probably doing it on purpose, but Ohno guesses it can’t be helped when it’s too obvious that his assistant is enjoying this far too much to even care that he is actually making his  boss feel like a teenager wooing his crush, and thus making him feel more embarrassed than he already is.    
  
He doesn’t want to give it much thought, but it seems like ever since he met Ninomiya, he’s been pretty much acting on instinct alone, his gestures and reactions are all over the place that he’s certain he is either freaking Ninomiya out or if not, is possibly pissing the guy off more times than he would want to admit because he can’t fucking rein his emotions in when Ninomiya is near him.    
  
Just like earlier when they came around to pick Ninomiya up from the corner of the bar Ninomiya had told him off and chased him out, the way he reacted pretty much like a moron. He swears he can’t even fucking make his brain work properly enough to apologize, can’t even bring himself to tell Ninomiya he’s doing all these stupid lame shit just to be close to him, and because he _likes_ him.    
  
He can’t, and that’s the worst thing about all this. He likes the other man enough to want to give him everything he could possibly want that Ohno could possibly offer him in return, but he just doesn’t have the balls to act on it. He wants to tell Ninomiya he likes him, so much, because he does, possibly from the very first time he saw Ninomiya but his words and actions don’t necessarily agree with him when Ninomiya is around. All he does is fuck everything up, and he’s certain that if Sho isn’t with him to steer him into the right direction whenever he takes the initiative to be with Ninomiya, he wouldn’t be surprised, at all, to find himself on the floor the next instant, with a broken nose and few missing teeth while Ninomiya beats the living crap out of him.   
  
He heaves a sigh and stares miserably at the piece of tomato he is supposed to be slicing but realizing that he hasn’t yet, vaguely wishing he could get his old life back before he met Ninomiya. Back then, there’s none of these confusing feelings and equally confusing urges, none of the things that keeps him up at night because he doesn’t know how to face them. It’s Ninomiya, of course, of course, and despite the fact that he knows himself enough to be sure of what he wants and what he should do in order to have them, he can’t do that with Ninomiya.    
  
Sure, he is used to setting his goals and accomplishing them within his target timeframe, but it’s obvious that he can’t do that with Ninomiya. There are things he wants to do, most of them involves disgusting and equally sappy things that he won’t ever dare admit he’s even imagining doing but the truth of the matter is that he does. He finds that sometimes, he thinks of Ninomiya and is stuck with the idea of having his arms around the other man, of Ninomiya’s own branded tightly around him in return, his lips pressed against Ninomiya’s own, and it’s… it’s the most wonderful feeling ever.    
  
It’s not even real, just Ohno’s overactive imagination tricking him and yet, Ohno can’t believe how much he wants it; he wants it so badly that it’s beginning to alter him in ways he didn’t even realize is possible, but it does, and it’s all because of Ninomiya.   
  
But despite that, there’s the difficult parts too and that’s what sometimes makes him want to go back to where it all started, to try and fix his mistakes, if possible. He won’t look at Ninomiya the way he did the first time the other man accidentally stepped into the room Ohno was currently conducting interviews, won’t even think of hiring him without even a second thought because he knows what will happen.    
  
It’s the painful parts that make him want to wish for things to turn out differently, but then, as if on cue, Ninomiya and Sho round the corner just in time for him to catch Ninomiya smiling, that little, supposedly-private smile of his and Ohno feels his heart swoops dangerously inside his chest at the sight of it.    
  
_ Oh, good God _ , he thinks, biting his lower lip and watching Ninomiya avidly as Sho blabbers on about the paintings on Ohno’s walls, wishing for one second that that smile is aimed at his direction and knowing already that this is exactly what he’s afraid of.   
  
He’s falling for Ninomiya, and he is falling fast.    
  
And it is obvious that there is no way to stop it from spiraling out of his control no matter how much he wants to.   
  
  
+   
  
The dinner was unexpectedly relaxed, much to Nino’s quiet chagrin.    
  
It is rather obvious that the President isn’t used to company, what with how awkward he was when Nino and Sakurai volunteered to set the table for them since the President already did all the cooking. It was also surprising when the President had called his driver, Okada-san to join them, and Okada-san gratefully accepting the offer like it wasn’t the first time he had been invited over to eat with the President.   
  
The food were delicious, Nino has to admit that in all honesty, despite the fact that the President has had little time to prepare. It’s honestly admirable, watching the President working with his hands, the ever permanent scowl marring his forehead gone as he focused on cooking. Nino finds that surprising side of the President refreshing, if not particularly charming.    
  
After dinner, the four of them migrated to the living room. They were only there for about five minutes when Sakurai stood up and volunteered to prepare tea, calling Okada-san’s attention to join him. It is obvious that the move was intentional, but Nino is too busy trying to keep his thoughts to himself to even call Sakurai on it.    
  
“D-Did you like the food, Ninomiya-san?” the President asks after a long moment of awkward silence, effectively startling Nino. Nino forces out a smile, wishing he doesn’t look as embarrassed as he feels.    
  
“Yes Sir, it was wonderful,” he answers, meaning it. “Thank you.”   
  
The President waves a hand at him. “It’s… well, I’m glad you enjoyed it,” the President says, obviously about to say something else but settles on that one instead. “I’m sorry if it’s a little rushed. I wasn’t… I mean, if I had enough time, I could have cooked something better.”   
  
He shakes his head, unsure why he is being told this, or why the President is even apologizing. The food really was great, and Nino means it. He really enjoyed the dinner, despite his earlier reluctance about the whole thing. The President looked pretty much relaxed while they were eating too, and that helped sooth Nino’s frizzy nerves as well.    
  
“I swear it was wonderful, Sir, you really don’t have to worry about it,” he says, giving the President a smile, blushing when he remembers how awful he was towards the President earlier, back in the bar. He ducks shyly, hiding his eyes in apology.   
  
“I’m truly sorry for what I told you earlier, Sir,” he murmurs, hoping he sounded as sorry as he feels. He’s still unsure as to why the President thought he was the one at fault when it is Nino who had said mean things to him. “I… it was just…I was just surprised to hear about being background checked for the simple reason that I’ve been hired to –“   
  
“You weren’t,” the President cuts in before Nino can finish; Nino gapes, finds that he has somewhat raised his head and is gazing at the President’s face, the serious lilt of his mouth. “I was… it was a lie.”   
  
The wheels in Nino’s head are turning. “Excuse me?”   
  
The President looks like he wants to take it all back but figures he can’t anymore. Soon their eyes catch, and Nino finds that he can’t look away, despite the fact that a part of him wants to turn away already, make a run for it.   
  
“It was a lie,” the President repeats, as if to press his point. Nino blinks. “You weren’t background checked, no one was. I just said it because I didn’t know what to tell you when you found me there. The fact of the matter is that…” the President pauses here and licks his suddenly dry lips, before meeting Nino’s eyes again.    
  
“I had you followed,” the President says, and Nino reels at the force of his remembered fear returning. “I asked Okada to follow you when you left the building earlier, Ninomiya-san. That was how we found you at the bar,” the President says. “I’m sorry.”   
  
Nino’s heart is thumping away in his chest, his palms sweaty, his knees shaking along with the rest of him as he stands with difficulty.   
  
“Thank you for the dinner, Sir,” he finds himself saying, bowing his head low, tasting bile in his tongue. “I’ll be taking my leave. Have a good night.”


	7. Chapter 7

He knows he is acting like a jaded drama queen but he can’t help it, twisting around with his back to the President exactly the same time the words are out of his mouth. It’s so damn difficult to keep up with his own fucking emotions when the President himself always ends up (unconsciously?) bringing stuff up from Nino’s past, even though he probably (and rather obviously) doesn’t know it.   
  
“Ninomiya-san, wait!” the President calls and Nino’s not entirely sure why he stops; it must be the clear desperation in the President’s voice that roots Nino on the spot, coupled with the fact that the President has seized Nino’s wrist from behind as if he’s not even aware he’s done it, Nino can’t be sure, but whatever it is, it made him stop just the same.    
  
The President’s fingers tighten around Nino’s wrist as if on cue and Nino finds himself turning around, already biting his tongue if only to make sure he’s not about to make the stupid mistake of saying something he knows he will regret later. He raises his head with all the intention of telling the President to let him go, to wriggle away from the President’s hold but ends up seeing the President’s face – and pauses.   
  
“P-Please, I… D-Did I say something wrong, Ninomiya-san?” the President asks, and Nino finds himself torn between laughing and maybe crying at the incredulity of it all. On one hand, there is a possibility that the President must be playing with him, what with how damn serious he looks right now as his fingers dance around Nino’s wrist in what seemed like a very possessive manner despite the fact that he doesn’t have any reason to, but Nino also can’t help feeling like he’s missing something here, that he’s misreading the President somehow.   
  
It must be that, because Nino’s not that stupid to think there is more to this than what it looks. He can’t, he _shouldn’t_ , and for what it’s worth, Nino’s not that desperate to expect more out of something that is clearly impossible, to want to be with someone who has the ability to fuck his emotions around with just few words even if that someone is exactly Nino’s type.   
  
Especially if he happens to be none other than Nino’s employer.   
  
“If I did, please just…please tell me what it was exactly so I can, I don’t know, explain my side at least. I.. _.please_?”   
  
There are several things wrong in this moment, starting from the fact that the President looks entirely like he’s about to go down on his knees if Nino still insists to leave; and it’s dangerous, Nino thinks, not only for Nino’s pride (he promised himself he would never date or fall for someone from work, ever) but also for his heart.    
  
“Sir, it’s not…” Nino starts, voice trailing realizing how difficult it is to come up with words when the other man is looking at him like this, like he’s so afraid Nino will bolt the very first chance he gets. Nino doesn’t know what it means and for the life of him, being looked this way is as confusing as it is heart-warming.   
  
Nino’s eyes dart down, to the President’s fingers still wrapped around his wrist, feels his stance softens at the sight of it until the President’s gaze follows his, eyes zeroing on the contrasting colors of their skin. Then, as if on cue, the President lets go as if he’s burned, murmuring quiet apologies under his breath.   
  
“S-Sorry,” says the President, lower lip caught in between his teeth and worrying it; it makes him look about twelve and Nino’s heart squeezes at the sight. “I just –“ he pauses, unsure, hesitant, and Nino feels it acutely. “Can’t we talk? I mean, you don’t have to…you don’t have to go just yet, right?” the President says, unsure, hesitant, and Nino wants to feel bad for him – he does, actually – but he needs to get his head straight before he agrees with what the President wants.   
  
Nino knows there is something here, between them, that he hasn’t the heart nor the courage to grasp yet but he has to swallow the urge to address it upfront. It’s the noticeable light in the President’s eyes whenever the other man looks at him, the almost but not quite smile gracing the corners of his mouth whenever he looks at Nino but Nino has to ignore the signs. He is still reeling from the way his last involvement with someone ended up, after all, and the fact that the President himself had forbid any form of office entanglements amongst his employees kind of annoyed Nino despite himself.   
  
Nino bows his head in apology, lowering his eyes to the ground. “I have to, I’m sorry,” he mumbles; if the President ends up pissed at him for wanting to get away from the other man himself, from all of it, at least for tonight, then Nino guesses it’s the end of it. The last thing Nino wants is complication, and Nino knows that involving himself with the President means the exact same thing.   
  
“Ninomiya-san –“   
  
He ducks his head low even as he raises his hand, halting whatever the President is about to say next.    
  
“But I’m not saying I don’t want to,” he says, not bothering clarifying what he means exactly. He can’t; it’s hard enough being here  “It’s just...I’m not so sure about what I want to talk to you about either so…I..I don’t know, let me just clear my head tonight and we’ll do this again some other time, I promise.” Nino says, bravely raising his head now and meeting the President’s own, reading the confusion behind his eyes.    
  
“I-Is it…Is it about me?”   
  
_ Yes, and the fact that you’re acting like a creep right now it’s actually a little scary _ , Nino wants to say but instead settles on, “It’s hard to explain, really,” he lies and has to muster enough courage to look the President in the eye as he follows it with, “I’m not…I’m not comfortable with people doing…doing weird things behind my back just to talk to me or something.” Nino says, biting his tongue a second too late.    
  
The President balks at that; Nino watches, slightly alarmed by the President’s reaction, wondering if he’d said too much, too soon, but guesses there’s no other way to avoid the issue anymore anyway. Nino loathes the idea of having someone watching his every move without him knowing it after all, and it freaks him out big time that people does this stalking thing so willingly, shamelessly even.    
  
Well it’s not to say that the President did the same thing, or is planning on doing the same thing per se, but the fact that the President had just admitted sending his driver over to follow Nino on his way to the bar he was performing at earlier when he doesn’t have any reason to is enough for Nino to be cautious.   
  
“It’s not…it’s not like that,” the President breathes, mouth twitching embarrassingly at the edges. Nino wishes he could unsay what was already said but he can’t and that’s that. “If you will only let me explain, then I’ll –“   
  
“I will, but _not_ now,” he says, meaning it; Nino is sure that as long as he is working at Sami-jiima, there’s no way to avoid the President anyway. Pretty soon, they’d have to sit this down and talk this out, at least once he’s ready for it and he’s not feeling particularly exhausted. “I... of course we can, but now’s really not a good time, Sir, I’m sorry.” he follows.   
  
There’s an awkward pause then, a space of about two heartbeats before the President nods his head and reaches over to touch Nino’s wrist, light and impossibly tender.    
  
“ _Okay_ ,” agrees the President, much to Nino’s surprise. “But please let Okada drive you home,” the President adds, shaking his head before Nino can even voice out his protests. “Please, I insist. We invited you over so let me at least have the courtesy of bringing you home as well, Ninomiya-san.”   
  
Nino knows he’s not that cruel to turn down the President’s kindness, or of anyone’s kindness for that matter, even in the face of something confusing. He locks his gaze down, on the space on the floor between their toes and nods his head in answer.   
  
“Okay, Sir,” he mumbles, feeling the President’s fleeting touch against the back of his wrist before it is gone.    
  
“Thank you, Ninomiya-san,” the President says, “Please wait for a bit. I’ll just go and call Okada so he can take you home.”   
  
Nino nods, still unable to say anything even as he lifts his head and stares after the President’s retreating back, vaguely worried about the way his heart is behaving inside his chest following the President walking away.   
  
  
+   
  
As much as Sho hates being kept out of the loop, especially when it concerns his job, and his employer or vice versa, he most of all hates being ignored.   
  
“Ohno-san, Sir, are you going to tell me what in hell just happened?” he asks, barely able to stop himself from following Ohno as the other man paces around the living room, looking thoughtfully distracted. There’s nothing much he could do but wait until Ohno is done shutting him out but it doesn’t mean Sho is going to be adamantly quiet about it.   
  
“Satoshi-kun, you are fucking scaring me,” Sho quips, gaze following Ohno as Ohno settles on the floor, sprawled on his ass with his back against the wall. He looks small, he looks scared, and he damn looks the least bit like the confident President Sho has grown accustomed to.    
  
Ohno rocks back and forth on his perch on the floor, thumb shoved in his mouth and shaking.   
  
“Satoshi-kun –“   
  
“I feel so useless, Sho-kun,” Ohno mumbles, shakily, hiding his face in his hands. Sho feels the moment stretch like a lifetime as he crawls on his hands and knees towards the corner Ohno has curled himself in, unsure of what to say, what to do. “I just…I kept fucking things up when he’s around me, stumbling like an idiot whenever he’s so close knowing that I can’t reach for him. I don’t know what else to do, can’t even find the right words to say because it feels like whenever I try to get him to notice me, I always end up chasing him away. And I’m so scared of trying… afraid that one wrong move from my part, just fucking _one_ , and he’ll run off and I won’t ever get the chance to ask him to stay just a bit longer, just enough for him to see me without all the stupid things I kept throwing his way because I’m an idiot.”    
  
_Holy shit_ , Sho thinks, opening his mouth to say something but ending up closing it again, feeling entirely helpless as he watch his boss’ confidence breaks, the last of his defense crumbling. Sho can’t, for the life of him, find the right words to comfort Ohno, because he knows that nothing he will say is enough to make up for the way Ohno is hurting right now for loving someone who possibly won’t ever love him back.   
  
So Sho doesn’t; he just stays there, keeping Ohno’s company as Ohno breaks and trembles, knowing that in time, Ohno himself will try piercing himself together the only way he knows how.   


	8. Chapter 8

Sho doesn’t want to keep thinking about it but he is certain that after this, Ohno is definitely going to kill him.   
  
Or maybe Ohno will end up beating him to a pulp, Sho tells himself, once Ohno finds out he has decided, in his haste and great worry of course, to call on the cavalry just to find Ohno, and to make sure Ohno hadn’t considered killing himself by either throwing himself to the ocean or something.    
  
That cavalry being the same person Ohno loathes a great big deal, but also the only other person Sho thinks is capable of helping Sho in tracking Ohno’s whereabouts without even lifting a finger.   
  
It’s been three days since he last saw Ohno. Three days since the disaster that was Ohno trying to get into his newly-hired employee’s – Ninomiya’s - good side only to end up with the guy marching out of Ohno’s house not even two hours later, pissed as fuck. Three fucking days since Ohno shoved him out of his house after Ninomiya and told him he needed to be alone for a while, and Sho is seriously, honestly, worried.   
  
Sho knows he might be overreacting. Ohno might not even be out at sea, fishing, the way Sho supposed Ohno would end up going after that night; he may as well be at some place with no people and equally poor phone reception since he hadn’t been able to reach Ohno no matter how many times he’d tried calling the other man.    
  
Sho knows he shouldn’t worry so much; Ohno is a capable adult, and therefore is old enough to look after himself, but honestly, after what happened last Friday night, Sho isn’t at all sure. It was hard enough being there, sitting idly by and watching his normally confident employer _and_ friend broke down, his arms protectively around himself and shaking like a terrified child, right there on his living floor, Sho guesses his worries is rather understandable.   
  
He’s never seen Ohno like that before, looking small and defeated, vulnerable, just because of another person, and frankly, it worries him as much as it angers him knowing that he couldn’t do anything, say anything to assure Ohno then that everything will be fine.    
  
He couldn’t, because honestly, he’s not even sure about it himself. It’s not like Ohno’s troubles could be solved by simply laying out all the viable options, strategies, because this – this isn’t work and things certainly _don’t_ work like that.   
  
It’s easier said than done, that much is obvious, since every little thing they came up with that night ended with Ninomiya leaving and Ohno with his heart broken. He can’t say its Ohno’s fault, for spouting things he probably should have swallowed instead, for admitting things out loud rather than keeping his mouth shut because it’s clear that by doing so, he ended up pissing Ninomiya off so much he’d ran off the first chance he got.    
  
Sho sighs. Love is a complicated thing, really, and he swears he would never allow himself to get caught in its equally complicated web, at least if he could help it.   
  
A movement from his right breaks his train of thoughts before Matsumoto Jun materializes next to him like literally out of nowhere. Sho manages to keep himself from shrieking when Matsumoto’s hand very suddenly and very carefully cups his chin and leans in for a sound kiss to his cheek.    
  
“Sho-san, so nice of you to visit me during your working hours,” Matsumoto says, moving his hand around the back of Sho’s head and leaving it there before he is sitting next to Sho with a handsome grin. Sho tries to regulate his breathing, tries not to hyperventilate at the closeness but it’s difficult.    
  
Damn, why does Matsumoto have to be so hot? “To whom do I owe the pleasure of meeting you today?”   
  
“Matsumoto-san, please,” Sho breathes, leaning backwards to regain some precious distance between him and Matsumoto, politely wriggling out of Matsumoto’s possessive hold despite the difficulty. Sho can’t help it if he likes the feel of Matsumoto’s hands on him, but this is certainly not the reason why he’s here. It doesn’t help that Matsumoto seems not to notice, nor care that they are in a very public place (they’re at Stay Gold Hotel’s bar where Matsumoto agreed to meet him) and is openly flirting with him as if he’s entirely unaware that his employees are watching.    
  
“Why, Sho-san, are you blushing?” Matsumoto teases and Sho feels the tell-tale movement of Matsumoto’s fingertips sliding across the back of his head. The gesture might be a very offending one if not for the fact that Sho likes it enough to lean further into it even, biting his tongue just in time to stop the embarrassing noises from spilling out before he is roughly shaking himself out of the temporary daze Matsumoto always puts him in whenever they’re at the same vicinity.   
  
Clearing his throat for good measure, Sho backs away, firmly this time. “I think you need to have your eyes checked, Matsumoto-san, Sir.” He says, clasping his fingers around Matsumoto’s wrist and tugging.   
  
Matsumoto chuckles but otherwise gave no further remarks as he removes his hand. Sho sighs gratefully and watches as Matsumoto flicks his right hand towards the bartender.    
  
“My eyes are fine, Sho-san,” Matsumoto says afterwards, twisting to his side and propping his arm on the counter, cupping his chin as he stares at Sho. “I think it’s your carefully-built defenses against me that needed checking.” Matsumoto says, throwing Sho a wink that has Sho’s stomach in knots before he even realizes it.    
  
“Anyway, we can talk about that stuff some other time,” Matsumoto says, vaguely gesturing at the bartender by raising two of his fingers without bothering looking. The bartender then bows in answer and scurries off to the other end of his workspace. “For now, why don’t you tell me exactly what you need from me?” Matsumoto demands as the bartender slides two shot glasses in front of them before he discreetly backs away.    
  
“And I’m positive you’re not here to see me, _ouch_ ,” Matsumoto adds dramatically, pushing the other shot glass towards Sho before he grabs the other one. “So, let’s hear it. Tell me why you’re here, Sho-san.”   
  
Sho squares his shoulders, lips pinched as he meets Matsumoto’s stare straight on. It’s dangerous enough for him to be here, at literally the enemy’s territory where he’s about to ask the enemy for help, but Sho is left with no other choice. Ohno may hate Matsumoto’s guts for all he cares but if there’s anyone who could help Sho find Ohno without even batting an eye, it’s none other than Stay Gold’s president, Matsumoto Jun.   
  
Sho takes the glass and raises it to his lips, meeting Matsumoto’s eyes before he swallows the contents in one go. He puts the glass down rougher than he intended and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand as he lowers his eyes to the wet spot his shot glass left forming on the counter.   
  
“It’s Ohno-san, Matsumoto-san,” Sho breathes. “He’s missing. I’m here because I need your help in finding him.”   
  
+   
  
Ohno spends the entire weekend avoiding Sho.   
  
He turned off his phone and packed up his camping gears the very same night, knowing exactly where he’s going, why he even wants to; at least once he had successfully chased Sho out of his house and into his car, told Okada to drive Sho home before he shut the door to their faces.   
  
He knows it’s childish, and probably a touché idiotic, that he has opted on ignoring everything that happened the night he spontaneously decided to invite Ninomiya over, instead of facing it the way he supposed he should, frankly because he couldn’t. Not when the memory of Ninomiya’s face alone is enough to make him want to wish he’d said nothing, did nothing, if only to avoid getting his heart broken twice in one night, all because of his stupidity.     
  
The late afternoon cicadas chirping from a distance are a welcomed distraction, but even that isn’t enough to take his mind off of things he knows he has to face eventually. He can’t keep hiding out here forever no matter how much he wants to, and even if he _could,_ he _shouldn’t_.    
  
There are so many options he could choose from, really, but secluding himself out here shouldn’t even make the list.    
  
He just needs to decide whether it’s worth the effort, pursuing Ninomiya, that is (even if all he does is fuck things up even more), or not.   
  
He sighs. It’s his third day here and normally by now, his head would have been clear enough for him to decide whether it is time for him to go home. But even now, three days later, he still hasn’t settled on anything.    
  
He did what he would normally do, at least whenever he’s out here – hiking, taking pictures of those rare kinds of mushrooms he finds so utterly fascinating – but even then, he always end up finding himself staring into nothing, or at the ceiling of his camping tent, thinking of Ninomiya.   
  
He shifts to his side, groaning. It’s difficult enough to be here while his heart, and honestly, his mind, is somewhere else. It’s Monday; he should either be in the office or somewhere else (he remembers his supposed dinner date with the daughter of Takenaka Holdings that Sho arranged for him three weeks prior) but he can’t be bothered to think about those now. Not when his mind is filled with nothing but Ninomiya, of the memory of Ninomiya’s smiles, the pretty, pretty quirk of his lips, the way the light bounces attractively from his cheeks to the fan of his lashes.   
  
Ohno wants to draw him.   
  
His fingers twitch with the urge but he can’t bring himself to do it because he’s afraid he won’t be able to do him justice. There are so many details about Ninomiya’s face he has yet to see, sides and angles he would love to look at (and maybe touch, if given the chance) up-close but knows that he can’t, no matter how much he wants to.   
  
He wonders if there’s any way to change that.   
  
“Samii-kun, oi, Samii-kun!” a very familiar voice calls out from outside and effectively snapping Ohno’s attention to the present, frowning at the shadow moving outside his tent. He crawls forward on his hands and knees, only half-wondering who the intruder is as he peeks out of the small opening to check.   
  
“Matsumoto-san?” he blurts out, finding Matsumoto’s gorgeous face smiling back at him. “What are you doing here?”   
  
Matsumoto grins. “Oh, finally,” says Matsumoto as he reaches out and unzips Ohno’s tent all the way off  before clasping his fingers around Ohno’s arm and dragging him out. “I was afraid you were dead in there. Anyway, why won’t you come out so we can chat, hmm, Samii-kun?”

 

++

 

  
Nino is worried.   
  
Somehow, it doesn’t come as a surprise that he is. It’s almost five o’clock now and his officemates are all getting ready to leave in a few minutes, but he’s too distracted to even care. He can’t help his gaze from wandering over the door of the President’s office every now and then, which has remained shut since morning after Sakurai Sho had come and left not even an hour after.   
  
No one knows what is happening; it seems like this is the first time they’ve encountered the same thing, their President being gone from the office without any prior memo informing his staffs where he would be traveling and even poor Chief Matsuoka seems a little lost.    
  
“I heard they couldn’t contact him,” Aiba had told him earlier during lunch, and Nino had tried to keep himself from frowning, from outright demanding Aiba for an explanation, even though he kind of already suspected what had triggered the President’s much unexpected and obviously very sudden disappearance.    
  
Aiba had then followed it with, “I heard Joushima-san telling the Chief that the President had been out of reach since late Friday evening….” And Nino swore the sound he had just made right then and there would have been awfully embarrassing if not for the fact that he was too busy trying to locate his phone from his pants pocket, fingers shaking as he unlocked the screen finding Sakurai Sho’s number as he excused himself from the table he was sharing with Aiba.   
  
Unsurprisingly, Sakurai Sho’s phone was equally out of reach.   
  
“Nino-chan, are you ready to go?” Aiba’s voice prompts him out of his temporary daze, hand on his shoulder. “Hey, are you okay? You’ve been quiet since morning. Are you sick? Do you want me to go with you to the doctor or something?”   
  
Nino forces out a smile, grateful for Aiba’s genuine concern even though Nino doesn’t deserve it. He shakes his head, figures he can try and call Sakurai later at home, ask him about the President then, at least if he answers.   
  
“Nino-chan?”   
  
Nino pats Aiba’s arm and stands up. “I’m okay, Aiba-chan,” he tells his friend, not really meaning it. He gathers his things without sparing Aiba a look, wishing he doesn’t look as pathetic as he feels. “Shall we go?”   
  
“Okay, if you say so,” Aiba says, sounding not the least bit convinced but otherwise lets Nino lead the way.   
+   
  
He pauses, looks Matsumoto in the eyes and finds himself mumbling a stupid-sounding, “Huh?” in answer, the only eloquent thing he could muster in counter to Matsumoto’s idea.   
  
To this, Matsumoto simply grins.    
  
“Come on, think about it for just one second, Samii-kun,” Matsumoto says, trying to keep a straight face despite the fact that he seems to  be having a seriously hard time keeping his mirth in. Ohno’s hand twitches with the urge to hit him.   
  
“I don’t know why you even think I’m going to listen to you,” he counters, annoyed.    
  
It’s not to say that he’s pissed because of the fact that Matsumoto is here, or that of all people, he should be the one to try and put some sense into Ohno’s head as if he has all the fucking right, but because Ohno doesn’t want to admit that for all the things he absolutely hates about Matsumoto, one of it is the fact that Matsumoto is seldom wrong.   
  
However, he’s not that stupid to admit that to Matsumoto, not even if the other man threatens to dismember him.   
  
“Oh, I know you would, Samii-kun,” Matsumoto returns with a confident smile Ohno feels like wiping off with his fist. “ _Eventually_. You won’t admit it now because we both know you’re too stubborn for your own good but in the end, you’ll do it, because you know I’m right.” Matsumoto says, tone overflowing with confidence it is almost terrifying.    
  
Ohno gives Matsumoto a look before he promptly takes his gaze away, squaring his shoulders in feigned defiance even though he’s feeling anything but. Damn Matsumoto and his fucking perfect existence.   
  
Still, it doesn’t hurt to pretend he at least has the upper hand here. “I don’t know,” he says, shrugging nonchalantly. “I don’t see any reason why you think firing Ninomiya-san is the answer to all this trouble because as far as I’m concerned, doing that will only benefit you,” he says. Matsumoto’s brow arches the slightest bit the action would have gone unnoticed if he wasn’t looking at Matsumoto.    
  
To be honest, having drawn that reaction from the other man made him feel slightly better.    
  
“Please excuse me if I’m wrong, though,” he follows, smirking. Matsumoto shrugs, as if he’s not at all ashamed to admit that he will jump at the very first chance he could get to steal Ninomiya from his company.    
  
And well, keeping his disgusting feelings over Ninomiya aside, as the company’s owner and having interviewed Ninomiya himself, he’s pretty certain he’d have done the same thing if he’s Matsumoto.    
  
Ninomiya is quite a catch, be it in terms of business and in – nope, he’s not going there, is he?   
  
“You’re not,” Matsumoto agrees quite readily, and Ohno really feels like punching him. “Though I must say I really do envy you for bagging Ninomiya-san so easily. I mean, I even went out of my way to personally scout him the first time I met him in Singapore but he outright declined me.  Said he was happy in the hotel he’s working at even though I told him I’d double the salary he’s getting there, and then a couple of months later, I found out he’s back here in Japan and is working at your hotel,” Matsumoto says without pause.    
  
Then, sounding bitter, “I mean, come on, you already have Sho-san with you, following you around like you’re the crown prince of Egypt, why can’t I have Ninomiya-san at least? You’re a lucky dog, Samii-kun.”   
  
Ohno frowns, not liking the word Matsumoto just used. “Ninomiya is not a thing and therefore I couldn’t bag him, Matsumoto-san,” he says, annoyed. “And I guess you’re right, I’m lucky like that so there is no way I am going to kick him out of my company just because I like him and he didn’t.”   
  
Matsumoto gives him a look then, and shrugs. “Fine, then don’t,” Matsumoto says, “but you agree with me that you need to give him some space, right? If it doesn’t work out, still, then maybe –“   
  
“It’s for the best, I know,” he agrees, not wanting to admit it but he guesses that’s just how it is. He can’t possibly have everything he wants, even if he works hard to get them.    
  
Matsumoto raises his hand and mock-punches him on the shoulder.    
  
“Right,” Matsumoto says, “so are you ready to go home or what? Your mother is worried, you know?”   
  
“My mother?”   
  
“Sho-san,” Matsumoto says, then proceeds on giving him that signature smirk of his again as Ohno scowls, revises his impression about this person .    
  
A jerk, he thinks, but an honestly charming one at that. “Oh, well then you should stop trying to flirt with him,” he says, grinning inwardly, “because then if he says yes to you you’ll have to adopt me. You don’t like that, do you?”   
  
Matsumoto laughs, loud and carefree that the sight of him with his eyes reduced to slits, head thrown back and looking so very young, surprises Ohno.   
  
“Oh, Samii-kun, you’re  hilarious,” Matsumoto says, thumping Ohno’s back not-so-gently, and for once, Ohno doesn’t feel entirely repulsive of him.    
  
He grins, genuinely this time, and leans back into his tent comfortably, enjoying his last few minutes stay here while thinking of Ninomiya.   
  
  
+   
  
The next morning, Nino is edgy. It doesn’t help that Aiba keeps on checking him out, asking him what’s wrong, and why he looks like a pregnant cat about to go into labor. He couldn’t even find the strength to get back at Aiba for it, his brows creased with worry as his gaze keeps darting towards the President’s office, vaguely wondering what is happening to him.   
  
But to be honest, he knows exactly what triggers this.   
  
He spent the previous night thinking about the President, how poorly he treated the other man when it was pretty obvious to anyone with eyes the reason why the President had acted the way he did. It was kind of a given, and this isn’t the first time Nino’s experienced someone treating him the way the President had been treating him.    
  
The President _likes_ him, and that in itself is surprising as much as it is humbling, and for the life of him, Nino doesn’t know what to feel about it really.    
  
On one hand, he’s grateful. There’s no other way to go about it, honestly, and he finds himself wondering what’s so special about him that he always kind of ends up attracting the ‘crazy ones’, then laughs it off despite himself. Toma might be on the crazy category, yes, but he won’t put the President there; he may be a little weird but until Nino gets to know the man better, he couldn’t really tell.   
  
The other man might lean heavily on the eccentric side, but that doesn’t make him a bad person. Nino figures as much, even after his few but very personal encounters with the President.   
  
The front door opens and Nino is quickly snatched out from his thoughts, stands up along with the others as the President strides in, confidently, Sakurai Sho hot on his heels. He doesn’t even pause when everyone bow their heads, and Nino finds himself following the President’s retreating back with a frown, heart hammering hard in his chest at the all-too-familiar scowl marring the President’s mouth, made even prominent by the passive look on his face as he passed by.   
  
For a second there, Nino wonders what made it look so familiar.    
  
Then he remembers. It’s the same look the President wore the first time he met the President in Singapore – distant, uncaring, untouchable, and Nino’s heart aches without him knowing exactly why.


	9. Chapter 9

  
“Would you like me to open the blinds for you, Sir?” Sho asks, closing the door behind him quietly, tries not to comment on the sight of Ohno inconspicuously trying to peek on Ninomiya through the tiny opening he’s made through the closed blinds when Sho came in, squeezing himself to the wall while he struggles to keep his fingers from slipping in between the blinds, his mouth stretched into a tight line.    
  
“Hmm?” Ohno hums in answer, looking obviously unaware that he has Sho for company.    
  
Sho says nothing as he stands there, surveying Ohno quietly and doesn’t comment on the fact that Ohno looks devastatingly miserable despite the fact that he is trying to keep it together. It is evident in the way he is slouching more than usual, evident in the way his smiles don’t quite reach his eyes. But the look of affection is still there, made even prominent by the occasional sighs he keeps on letting out as he stares longingly at Ninomiya.   
  
“If you needed more time to yourself, you know you can have it,” Sho announces, louder this time and is only partially entertained at the way Ohno heaves himself away from the window as quickly as he could manage it, as if he’d just realized what he was caught doing, even rearranging his expression into some semblance of impassiveness that makes Sho snicker despite himself.    
  
“I don’t really –“   
  
“And your company’s not going to shut down during the few days that you’re not here, Sir,” Sho cuts in before Ohno can say anything. “No need for you to come here, really, if you don’t feel like it. I can always bring the papers you need to look over to your house, no big deal.”   
  
“I’m fine,” Ohno says, feigning defiance but even he himself doesn’t look convinced. Sho sighs, turning towards the direction of the door and locking it. Behind him, he is dimly aware of Ohno’s gaze following him but he doesn’t let it stop him.   
  
When he turns back around, he isn’t entirely surprised to find that Ohno is perched on the edge of his table, looking torn and maybe a little apprehensive.   
  
“You’re not,” Sho says as he crosses the short distance between him and Ohno, putting the stacks of documents he’s brought with him, papers Ohno has to check over, on his table. “And it’s okay. It’s okay to _not_ feel fine. You’re entitled to feel that way sometimes, you know?”   
  
Ohno gives him a look and Sho swears he doesn’t want a repeat of what happened on Friday night, would do anything he could to avoid it.   
  
Ohno’s eyes are glazed with something so painful it hurts just to look. “You sent Matsumoto-san to find me,” Ohno says, off-handedly, as if he is deliberately leading the topic away from the fact that Sho caught him, looking forlornly at Ninomiya.   
  
By virtue of knowing Ohno the way Sho does, he wisely lets it go. “Only because I was certain he’d know where to look,” he returns, uncaring of how motherly he probably sounded like at the moment. To be honest, it doesn’t really matter. Sho cares; it’s hard not to when he works with Ohno day in and day out, and that he gets to spend more time with him than Sho does with his own family.    
  
Ohno’s eyes are shaded with something unreadable when Sho raises his head. “Yeah, I wonder about that too,” Ohno replies, softly.    
  
“He has sources I obviously don’t and that’s why I asked for his help,” he says, then, “I hope you aren’t too upset about what I did,” he adds, “I was just worried about you and I swear I wouldn’t –“   
  
“It’s fine, Sho-kun,” Ohno cuts in, a little smile on his face. It still doesn’t look genuine enough to stop Sho from worrying but he guesses he can accept that for now. After all, if there is anyone who has the ability to put himself back together in no time, it is Ohno. “I’ll be fine, you really shouldn’t worry too much about me.”   
  
Sho blinks at Ohno and shakes his head. “Can’t exactly help it, Satoshi-kun,” he says, meaning it. “but I guess you already know that.” he follows before he takes a seat on the chair in front of Ohno’s table, staring expectantly up at Ohno. Ohno blinks, confused, then grimaces when he realized what Sho sitting there means.    
  
“No, please, we don’t have to talk about this,” Ohno groans as he jumps off from his perch on the table and rounds the way back to his chair. Sho stills, remains resolute as his gaze follows Ohno. “Sho-kun, seriously, we’re guys. We _don’t_ talk about these things, only girls do that, please.”   
  
“You have anything better in mind aside from running off or drinking your problems to oblivion?” Sho asks, hopeful.   
  
Ohno looks defeated. “I was totally going to suggest the latter but –“   
  
“Drinking won’t solve anything, Satoshi-kun,” Sho cuts in, voice mildly reproachful.    
  
Ohno grunts, pouting. “And talking about it would?”   
  
Sho shrugs. “It might help,”   
  
“Hah!” Ohno bites out, pointing at Sho, and Sho watches him visibly deflates when he realized Sho looks determined enough to stay. Ohno hangs his head and grunts something unintelligible under his breath that Sho doesn’t bother deciphering.    
  
“So, do you want to talk about it or do you WANT to talk about it?” Sho asks.   
  
Ohno heaves a sigh and leans back on his chair, looking sorely defeated. He looks at Sho and Sho notes the misery behind Ohno’s eyes and the equally-miserable curl marring the edges of his lips.   
  
“I don’t know, Sho-kun,” Ohno starts, his voice tinged with something so painful that Sho feels his chest ache just by simply hearing him, “Do you think I would even want to talk about how Ninomiya-san is breaking my heart without him knowing it? How do I even say it? Where do I even begin?”   
  
  
+   
  
Nino’s not even sure why he’s still here.   
  
It’s already half past eight. Everyone left more than three hours ago, and his lame excuse to Aiba’s very generous dinner invitation remained unfinished on his desk. It’s not even that important; he could easily finish this proposal with his eyes half-closed, no problem, but he still declined Aiba in favor of staying here.   
  
Still, he wouldn’t dare admit, even to himself, the reason why he’s still here.    
  
He eyes the glass wall of the President’s office, and wonders, not for the first time, why the President has been keeping the blinds shut now when he didn’t before. Even the office lights are dimmed low that it’s difficult to make out what the President is doing inside and it’s honestly frustrating the shit out of Nino without him knowing why.   
  
An hour ago, he even spied the President’s driver, Okada, bringing something in a box, which was very possibly dinner to the President’s office. He came out not even five minutes later, empty-handed, shutting the door behind himself again, which is why Nino is certain that the President is there.   
  
So why hasn’t he come out ever since?    
  
Nino’s been pacing the floor, vaguely glad that he’s alone in the office (well, aside from the President himself, that is) as he contemplates between leaving the office at once and knocking on the President’s door to check if he’s okay.    
  
Well, the former he could very well settle on right now. He doesn’t have any reason to be here, after all, and even if he does, well, it’s not like it even matters. It’s very clear that what happened Friday night between him and the President, what he said and did, was the reason why the President took a very untimely leave from the office and come back trying to avoid everyone, especially Nino.   
  
“Why do you even care so much, you idiot,” he despaired, catching himself staring miserably at the door of the President’s office. It wouldn’t do him any good to leave now that he’s spent the past few hours, no scratch that, the entire day (or the entire weekend and the start of this week, to be honest) thinking about the President, of what he’s done to trigger this changes on the man because he honestly believes this is all because of him.    
  
Maybe he’s wrong, maybe there’s another reason but then again, would he know if he won’t ask?   
  
“You are seriously going to regret this,” he mutters to himself as he slowly walks his way towards the President’s office door, heart beating unusually fast inside his chest. His fingers are shaking as he lifts his palm up, breathing in deeply as he summons the courage to knock, before he does.   
  
+   
  
It’s a little late for dinner.    
  
Sho even went out of his way to tell Okada to buy him some – curry, by the smell of it - but it had been more than an hour since Okada brought it in and he still doesn’t want to touch it. He chose to stay back instead of going home, only because he’s not sure what he wants exactly. For one, he was too scared to go out knowing that he might bump into Ninomiya, and with how miserable he feels right now, there’s no way he could face the other man without ending up embarrassing himself in the process.    
  
Also, he might be feeling a little lonely himself, and being here in the office, knowing that Ninomiya is just around, helps.    
  
He doesn’t want to think he’s being clingy (he’s pretty certain Ninomiya has no idea his boss is harboring such intense feeling of fondness towards him, after all), because he’s not, he’s not, and that the simple knowledge that he could just walk a few steps and shove his fingers in between the closed blinds to see Ninomiya is seriously not reason enough to make him smile (even though it actually does).    
  
“You are _so_ stupid,” he grunts to himself, would resolve into kicking himself too if he could, if it would help him clear his head, enough to decide what to do about his little Ninomiya problem. He wishes it is that easy.    
  
Three consecutive knocks on the door snaps him out of his misery, vaguely wondering if it is Sho-kun coming back to check on him. He goes to the door and doesn’t bother asking who it is, unlocks it and pulls it open in the same movement.   
  
“Sho-kun, I’m not going home –“ he says, then stops. And in that moment, it sure feels like his heart does, too.    
  
“Sir?” Ninomiya bows from outside the door. “I was hoping you were still here, um, can I come in?”

 

++

 

It took Ohno’s brain a bit longer to get up to speed, long enough that he has to literally shake himself out of daze and kick his brain back into gear the second he realized that he is blocking the doorway and is staring at Ninomiya like the creepy stalker that he obviously is.    
  
“I –“ he stutters, catches himself halfway from saying something mundanely stupid as he commands  himself to  move aside so he could let Ninomiya in. “Of course, Ninomiya-san. Please come in.” he says.   
  
Ninomiya doesn’t say anything; he just bows his head and mutters something indistinct under his breath as he walks pass Ohno quietly, Ohno watching him dazedly from behind before he remembers to close the door and follow Ninomiya inside.   
  
  
+   
  
  
The silence that follows soon after is unsurprisingly awkward; Nino noticed this as soon as he is inside the office, fidgeting nervously.   
  
He is unable to say anything, feeling the obvious uneasiness radiating off the President despite the relative distance. He wants to hit himself for deciding on acting on pure impulse, because right now, he’s too scared to even admit to himself why he’s here.   
  
But he knows; he does know exactly what prompted him to do what he did, what made him decide to knock on that door knowing that the President is just behind it.    
  
“D-Do you want anything to drink?” the President asks, his voice effectively breaking into Nino’s line of thought in an instant. Nino’s not sure how long he’s been standing there, quiet, unmoving, until the President reluctantly prompted him out of his stupor.   
  
“No, it’s…. I’m fine,” says Nino; he looks around and finds a familiar-looking parcel paper bag on top of the coffee table and realizes it is the same one Okada-san brought in earlier.    
  
“What about dinner?” the President asks, probably catching Nino looking. Nino blushes as if on cue, but it didn’t escape him that the President sounded sheepish, and maybe a touché hopeful. He looks up and finds himself inexplicably giddy seeing that the President didn’t just sound like it, he looks like he is, too.   
  
He wants to shake his head because admittedly, he’s not that hungry, but he can’t bring himself to do that now, to decline the President yet again after his own hasty retreat the last time the President invited him over for dinner at his house.    
  
“What about it?” he returns, knows that he’s trying to stave off the awkward air hanging between them. It may not be enough, not after everything that has happened but all he could do is try. He wants to apologize but even then he isn’t that confident to ask whether he is the reason why the other man went into temporary hiding, even though it’s actually pretty obvious.   
  
There’s that tiny smile breaking at the corner of the President’s mouth and Nino has to bite back a smile of his own despite the difficulty. He has to, if only so he won’t have to divert his gaze elsewhere, his attention, because for once, he doesn’t want his fears nor his inhibitions hinder what he knows he already feels for the President.   
  
It’s scary, if Nino is going to be completely honest about it, that he is fastly losing his hold upon his own emotions once he realized the reasons behind the President’s admittedly odd gestures towards him. He doesn’t want to admit that the President is everything he wants in a man and more, and that he’s afraid he might be putting himself at risk for allowing himself to fall, knowing how hard it must be for the both of them in the end.   
  
“I…” the President says, then pauses, pointing at the paper bag sitting on top of his table. “O-Okada brought that a little while ago but I wasn’t that hungry then –“   
  
“Are you hungry now?” he cuts in, finding that he’s enjoying teasing the President.    
  
The President nods. “Go on and eat, then,” he says, smiling now. The President blinks, then frowns, before his face slowly brightens up as if he saw something worth grinning about. Nino’s hand twitches with the urge to touch the corner of the other man’s lips.   
  
“Join me?”   
  
Nino shrugs. “You’re not going to deduct this from my salary, are you?” he asks, trying to sound suspicious, though he knows he looks anything but.    
  
The President chuckles, and Nino finds the sound so endearing knowing that he is the reason for it.    
  
“I’ll think about it,” The President says, then gestures for him to sit while he himself walks the rest of the way to the table and unpacks the take-away dinner without another word.   
  
Nino throws caution to the wind and sits himself down, watching the President intently while wondering how in hell things ended up this way when he was honestly expecting something else.   
  
+   
  
His fingers are shaking.    
  
He can’t even hold the spoon properly, barely tasting the food he is shoving in his mouth with how damn nervous he is. He’s not even sure how everything ended up like this, with him and Ninomiya in his office eating dinner together, because everything’s a little blurry ever since he opened the door and found Ninomiya standing there.    
  
It’s not even once he found his gaze straying from his food to Ninomiya’s face, and he has to literally command himself to look away before Ninomiya found him staring. They are eating in silence – it’s rather obvious that Ninomiya’s earlier teasing has been replaced with something else, something that is clearly making him uneasy and Ohno wishes he can say something, anything, to encourage Ninomiya to talk, to tease him again, if that’s what would keep him here for a little while longer.   
  
Ohno doesn’t want him to go just yet.   
  
“This is good,” Ninomiya says, suddenly, surprising even Ohno himself he almost dropped his spoon but thankfully able to catch himself before he did.    
  
He nods, glad that Ninomiya finds their dinner tasty, whereas Ohno can barely swallow anything. He clears his throat and puts his spoon down, the question about Ninomiya’s favorite food hangs at the tips of his tongue when his gaze zeroes in on a bit of sauce he finds on Ninomiya’s chin.    
  
He is grabbing for the tissue and is reaching over to wipe the sauce off before he can stop himself, heart pounding hard in his chest the moment his knuckles bump against Ninomiya’s chin and Ninomiya stills as if on cue.   
  
“U-Uh, _there’s_ – sauce,” he says as he lowers his gaze, to Ninomiya’s chin. “Let me just wipe it off okay– yeah, okay, it’s – it’s fine now.”   
  
Ninomiya is quiet for a moment before he lowers his gaze too. Still, Ohno didn’t miss the soft little smile curving the corners of Ninomiya’s lips, nor the pink tainting his cheeks when he murmurs,    
  
“Thank you,”   
  
  
+   
  
They finished dinner half an hour later and Nino volunteered to make the coffee (incidentally, they both like drinking it after dinner) while the President took care of the trash. He goes back to find the table already cleared and the President in the middle of removing his suit jacket.    
  
Nino finds himself appreciating the view for a few seconds before the President raises his head and catches Nino looking.   
  
Nino clears his throat, embarrassed, but the President sure looks like he doesn’t mind that Nino is acting like a total creep, staring at the other man when Nino thinks he’s not looking. There’s so much to see, Nino realizes this as he goes and puts both cups of steaming black coffee down the table, sliding one closer to the President before sitting down.   
  
“I’m guessing you don’t take it with sugar?” he starts, picking up the other cup and lifting it to his lips for a sip.    
  
“Yeah,” the President agrees, before he, too, is reaching for the cup Nino placed in front of him for a careful sip. Nino watches him over the rim of his own, heart beating a little unsteadily inside his chest.   
  
They drink quietly for a while; Nino notices the way the President’s gaze would stray back to him every few seconds as if he can’t help himself, and it somehow makes it easier to stare him back. Nino finds himself smiling when he puts his now mostly empty cup down, the President mirroring his action by putting down his own cup too.   
  
“I – “ he starts, finds that he’s not really sure what is it he wants to say, really. Somehow, they spent the better part of the past hour without talking, despite the fact that the sole reason Nino decided to knock on that door and had asked the President to let him in was so he could talk to him.    
  
But then again, Nino doesn’t have any qualms about how he had spent the past hour in the company of the quiet President, certainly not after he realized how comfortable it actually feels to be around the other man.    
  
“Are you leaving?” the President asks; he stands up and Nino does too. “Um, I can – I mean, is it okay if you – I mean –“   
  
“No, I was actually going to talk to you about something, but then you distracted me with food, and well it’s –“    
  
“Talk to me? About what?” the President cuts in, and the straight-forwardness of the question surprised Nino as much as it scared him. Well, he did plan on asking the President what was wrong, but he guesses he can’t, not really. He’s not that brave, after all.   
  
“Um, a-about the proposal I’ve been working on for the, y-you know, the Chiba project,” he lies through gritted teeth, wishing he didn’t sound as stupid as he feels. God, he’s an idiot.   
  
“Ah, well, that’s… aren’t you supposed to talk to Matsuoka-san about that?” the President says, like he’s not sure about it himself even though they both know that’s how it works. Nino’s direct superior is Matsuoka, after all, and despite the fact that the President can always directly ask his employees anything with regards to the projects they are working on, he usually checks in with either Sakurai or Matsuoka himself.    
  
Nino knows this, of course, of course, and it only makes the embarrassing feeling worse. He looks up and finds the amused little smile dancing at the corners of the President’s mouth. Nino groans quietly, suddenly feels like hitting himself hard in the face.   
  
“Well, y-yeah,” he agrees, face hot in embarrassment. “I g-guess so,”   
  
A beat. “How’s the proposal coming along, anyway?” the President asks, all of a sudden; Nino knows it was done purposely to ease Nino’s embarrassment, and just that, just the thought that the President can read his emotions quite well even without Nino having to spell them out loud, surprises him as much as it warms him.   
  
He finds a small smile for the other man and shrugs, though more confidently this time. “I’m pretty sure that Management will find it favorable; Aiba-san and I went to survey the location ourselves and we can say with full confidence that it is the perfect spot to build the first Sami-jima hotel in Chiba,”   
  
The President remains quiet but there is something in the way he is looking at Nino that makes Nino feel suddenly self-conscious. Nino opens his mouth to say something, to ask, but the President beats him to it.   
  
“I can’t wait to read that proposal then, Ninomiya-san,” the President says, prompting a smile from Nino as if on cue, grateful for the President’s confidence in him as he bows his head in thanks.   
  
+   
  
An hour more was spent talking – Ohno discovered that Ninomiya doesn’t only have that gorgeous face of his to brag about, he’s obviously smart and witty, too. Ohno had spent the most of that past hour reminding himself not to stare too long or too often, knowing how easy it would be for Ninomiya to figure out that he had deliberately led the conversation elsewhere just so he could keep Ninomiya here longer.   
  
It’s almost eleven when his phone alarm went off – he had a scheduled video call with Ms. Sharon of Yellow Blue International in Las Vegas, at the same time it rings. It is Sho.   
  
He reaches for it at the same time Ninomiya stands up. “Wait, wait Ninomiya-san, let me just –“ he says, holding his arm out to gesture Ninomiya back to his chair as he slaps his phone to his ear. “Yes? Yeah, I know, my alarm went off, yes, I remember, Sho-kun, but… no, call her right now and tell her I can’t, okay? I have… something came up, something important so just ask her to reschedule,” he says, without pause, keeping his eyes at Ninomiya as he talks. Sho grumbles something about pissing the Chairwoman off but Ohno knows Sho is capable enough to handle her. He’s not Sami-jima’s President’s Assistant for nothing, and simple things like persuading a client to reschedule a video conference he can manage even with his eyes half-close.   
  
“If she insists, just tell her I can’t, but that I promise to make it up to her. Then tell her she’s welcome to stay in any of our hotels for a week on her bi-annual trip to Japan, as a gift, for free of course.” He says. He can very well imagine the wheels in Sho’s head turning, knowing that he almost never cancels very important meetings like this one if he could help it.   
  
This time, Ohno hardly cares. He doesn’t even wait for Sho’s answers and says, “Just message me what she will say. I’m – I have to go, bye.”    
  
“Sorry,” he apologizes, looking Ninomiya over and smiling, finding that Ninomiya is smiling, too. “It’s… where were we again?”   
  
Ninomiya shakes his head, looks down, hair falling covering his eyes and Ohno finds an almost blinding urge to brush his fringe away with his fingers, able to stop himself halfway, but just barely.    
  
Ninomiya stands up and Ohno finds himself following, confused, alarmed. “H-Hey, is there something wrong? I mean, what –“   
  
“Sir, it’s late,” Ninomiya cuts in, smile still in place; he sounded sheepish, boyish, like he’s trying to be patient even though he’s thoroughly amused by his employer’s weird antics. Ohno honestly feels like kissing him.    
  
“I’m sure you’re aware that we both have work tomorrow morning. Well, not you, if you don’t feel like it, since you’re the boss and all, but I obviously don’t have the same privilege. I have to be in this office before eight, if you know what I mean,” Ninomiya says, and this time he did sound amused, the tone of his voice warming Ohno to his toes.   
  
“Right,” he agrees, smiling too. He rounds the way to where Ninomiya is and stands awkwardly there, shoving and un-shoving his hands in his pants pockets like a neurotic idiot. “Umm, well, I supposed you’re right. It’s late. I…I’ll take you home. I mean, I’ll…let me just call Okada, he’s probably waiting in the parking lot –“   
  
“Sir, it’s okay,” Ninomiya says, “it’s fine. My place is very near, you don’t really have to –“   
  
“No, no, please I insist! I kept you here long enough, so it’s –“ he pauses, wonders if he looks as eager as he feels. “Please, let me at least take you home, Ninomiya-san.”   
  
Ninomiya gives him a look then, and nods. Ohno doesn’t know why that simple gesture prompted him to move, to bravely step forward with his eyes glued on Ninomiya’s face. Ninomiya obviously looks surprised but he doesn’t say anything when Ohno takes two steps more, and stops when he’s almost right into Ninomiya’s space.   
  
Ohno is thankful for their height similarity because like this, he can keep looking at Ninomiya’s face without either of them looking one up or the other down. He finds himself reaching out, then stops, words caught in his throat at the cacophony of emotions passing through Ninomiya’s eyes as he stares at him.   
  
“Sir?” Ninomiya breathes, and it’s a question as much as it is a plea and Ohno’s chest tightens in answer.    
  
“C-Can I – Can I hold you?” he asks, scared but equal-parts thrilled to know that this is what he wants and is finally going after it. His gaze still on Ninomiya, he breathes the question again, chest heaving hard as he watches Ninomiya’s face. “J-Just for a minute. I just. I need to –“   
  
“Yes,” Ninomiya answers, and  before Ohno can do much else, Ninomiya takes the last deciding step forward and buries his face into the dip of Ohno’s neck, his arms going around Ohno’s waist, his fingers warm through the fabric of Ohno’s dress shirt.

 

 


	10. Chapter 10

They stay like that for what felt like hours, Ohno’s arms light around Nino’s back and Nino’s own branded around Ohno’s waist. Nino can feel the way Ohno is breathing lightly against the side of his face, can feel the way Ohno’s heart is beating unsteadily beneath his chest at the closeness. Nino sighs and buries his face further into Ohno’s neck, ignoring that sensible voice screaming in his head at the moment.  
  
A couple of minutes more and Nino knows it’s time to let go. He slowly puts his arms down, slowly takes a step back only to be tugged back in before he even managed to move completely away.  
  
“A minute,” Ohno breathes, soft and pleading, and Nino stills as if on cue. Then, “You feel so good, Ninomiya-san.” Ohno whispers, and Nino feels the way his heart flips at the admission.  
  
“Careful, Ohno-san, Sir, or I might end up believing you,” he whispers back, only half-teasing, sighing deeply at the way Ohno’s arms tighten around him in answer.  
  
“I’d like it if you do,” Ohno breathes, and Nino wonders why it suddenly feels like he’s tiptoeing into a very dangerous territory, though amazed at the fact that right now, he doesn’t really mind it.   
  
He shifts, tilting his head to the left to nuzzle the side of Ohno’s jaw and feels more than hears Ohno gasping sharply at the gesture.  
  
Nino’s heart is beating crazily beneath his ribcage, watching as Ohno very slowly pulls away just far enough to look at Nino. His eyes have gone very dark and Nino is certain there’s something behind them that has Nino gasping in return.  
  
“S-Sir –“  
  
Ohno’s fingers find the side of Nino’s neck and stays there while they stare at each other’s eyes.   
  
“Sorry,” Ohno breathes, low and soft and barely audible as Nino watches him cross the short distance between their lips. “Sorry.” Ohno whispers, and it’s the last thing Nino hears before Ohno’s lips touch his.  
  
  
+++  
  
Nino can’t, for the life of him, find it in him to question his actions, or why in hell he is tilting his head to the left thus allowing Ohno to deepen the kiss. He’s obviously not in his right state of mind to be humming softly into his employer’s mouth in answer, instead of pulling away.   
  
The feel of their mouths clinging and parting has Nino panting for breath, realizes he has his fingers tightly clasped against the front of Ohno’s dress shirt when Ohno pulls away to breathe.   
  
“N-Ninomiya-san –“ Ohno mumbles, eyes dark and heavy-lidded, giving Nino just a few seconds to breathe air back into his lungs before Ohno is back to steal it again. Nino doesn’t bother thinking – he’s obviously  not going to get his brain to work properly now that Ohno is kissing him like a man starving for food – and just throws caution to the wind as he kisses Ohno back with equal fervor.   
  
Ohno growls in answer – he obviously didn’t expect Nino’s tongue finding its way inside Ohno’s mouth, fighting for dominance – and Nino kisses Ohno back like he won’t be able to again. He is pushing himself forward, to Ohno, and Ohno’s arms welcomed him, vaguely realizing the way Ohno’s hand moving to the back of his head to keep him in place, kissing him deeply, thoroughly.  
  
It should be awkward – it _is_ awkward – that they are making out hotly like a pair of horny teenagers, but somehow, Nino feels none of it. Ohno is kissing him like he’s been wanting to for the longest time, fingers firm and possessive against the nape of Nino’s neck.   
  
When Ohno pulls away, however, Nino’s lips follow, a whine of protest leaving his mouth at the action. Ohno laughs, giddy, breathy ragged into Nino’s cheek as Nino pants, frustrated, in return.   
  
Ohno fingers his cheek, his expression unguarded, awed. Nino feels his heart swoops in the most embarrassing way, looking down to avert his gaze elsewhere but Ohno stops him, cupping his chin instead.   
  
“Won’t you let me look at you?” Ohno says, and Nino does, albeit the overwhelming urge to hide. Ohno’s fingers are warm and his gaze equally so. “God, you’re so….” Ohno breathes, then pauses, pinching Nino’s chin lightly. “So pretty. I just…I can just stare at you forever.”  
  
Nino chuckles, embarrassed. “Seriously, Ohno-san –“ he says, darting his gaze downwards but Ohno is quickly stepping forward to cut him off.  
  
“Ninomiya-san, can I date you?” Ohno asks, his tone and expression serious; Nino blinks, unsure of what he’s hearing until Ohno pushes forward and kisses the tip of his nose, before resting their foreheads together.   
  
He looks small, scared, as he caresses Nino’s jaw. “Please, I…I know it’s sudden, and you might not –“  
  
“Yes,” he breathes, low and careful, hearing the way Ohno’s breath whooshes out of him in a rush and watching the slow, almost child-like smile gracing the corners of the other man’s mouth at Nino’s answer.  
  
“I… are _you_ serious?”  
  
Nino allows himself a smile, leans over and bumps his forehead lightly against Ohno’s, hands squeezing Ohno’s hips.   
  
“Yes,” Nino repeats, feeling his lips stretch into a wide grin. “Please don’t make me regret it.”  
  
Ohno grins back and pulls Nino back into his arms, hugging Nino tightly. “You won’t,” Ohno says, squeezing Nino hard, “I promise you won’t, Ninomiya-san.”  
  
Nino nods, shoving his worries aside and hugging Ohno back.  
  
  
+++  
  
Ohno’s not quite sure how to quit acting like an idiot, especially in front of Ninomiya but it seems like there’s no helping it.   
  
He’s smiling, staring at their joined hands resting on his lap; next to him, Ninomiya is quiet but he seems at ease sitting close to Ohno like this, and he does lean into Ohno when Ohno pulls at their joined hands to tug Nino closer.  
  
“Sir, stop smiling, oh my god.” Nino mutters, looking and sounding horrified but Ohno spies the way the corner of Nino’s lips curl just the tiniest bit, and Ohno grins.   
  
“I can’t help it, sorry,” he says, pulling Nino closer as Nino shakes his head at him. “Sorry, sorry.”  
  
“Oh my god, stop.”  
  
“I’m just so happy, sorry.”  
  
Nino looks like he is, too. “Stop smiling, please.”  
  
“I’m sorry.”  
  
“Oh my god, please don’t tell me you’re… holy crap, Sir, not in the office, please.” Nino says.  
  
He’s so cute that Ohno feels like kissing him, again. He holds himself though, for Nino’s sake more than his own.   
  
He smiles and leans in, pushing his face into Nino’s shoulder, rubbing his nose against the fabric of Nino’s shirt in affection.  
  
“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry.”  
  
“Oh god, Sir.” Nino complains but he doesn’t pull away, doesn’t try to push Ohno off.   
  
Ohno laughs.

++

  
Sho watches on with mildly-concealed interest, brows raised as he bites the insides of his cheeks.   
  
“Sho-kun, this is dangerous,” Ohno whines, hands twitching on his lap; he seems to be trying to hold back from grinning though it proves to be difficult seeing as he could barely keep it together as it is.   
  
Sho sighs. “What is?”   
  
Ohno bites his lower lip and stares dreamily on the space before him. “ _This_ ,” Ohno says, gesturing to himself; he looks up and Sho thinks he gets it, if not entirely. He’s certain it’s all because of what happened the night before but then again, he might be wrong. Okada might be lying - like he always does when he feels like fucking with Sho’s mind a bit, but the honestly (disgusting) smiles and equally (disgusting) sounds Ohno’s been letting out for the most part of the past few minutes indicates that something really, really nice happened last night.   
  
Sho frowns, choosing feigning confusion, for Ohno’s sake. He can choose not to, but he’s known Ohno long enough to learn that addressing the very reasons to Ohno’s various moods can be rather dangerous.  It is fairly obvious why Ohno’s been in this strangely good mood since morning, and Sho knows it has everything to do with Ninomiya, but he’s learned not to outright address the elephant in the room until he’s certain Ohno is willing to admit it’s there.   
  
“This?” Sho repeats, gesturing towards Ohno with a frown.  
  
“Yeah,” Ohno nods, then goes back to fiddle with the hem of his suit jacket, grinning as he sways around on his seat. Sho notes the way Ohno looks at this moment - young, carefree, different, and almost the complete opposite of the man Sho spent the entirety of yesterday trying to cheer up.   
  
“I presume that _this_ thing you are talking about involves Ninomiya-san?” he asks, bravely, though with the way Ohno seems to be having trouble reining his happiness in, it isn’t that hard to figure out.   
  
Ohno doesn’t look up but he does avert his gaze, lips twitching in a way that makes him look decades younger than his age, sheepish, boyish.   
  
_“He’s_ … I mean, _I’m_ … I mean –“ Ohno stutters, and Sho really wants to feel bad for his boss but it’s hard. Considering the fact that Ohno is acting like a teenager with a crush (and he is, minus the teenager part) and is obviously going to drive Sho insane from here on is already kind of worrying but Sho figures this is way better than watching Ohno’s misery in silence and knowing he couldn’t do anything to make it better.  
  
Evidently, it sure looks like Ohno doesn’t need his help, after all.   
  
“You don’t really have to tell me that you guys are dating now, Sir,” Sho says, barely able to keep himself from laughing watching Ohno whipping his head around in answer, eyes round in shock. “What? You think I wouldn’t know it? Just because I wasn’t with you last night when Okada-san took you home doesn’t mean I have no idea what was happening.”  
  
Ohno blinks; Sho notes the fact that Ohno’s cheeks are stained with pink, the tips of his ears equally so. He grins, tilts his head to the side and nods.   
  
“Anyway, congratulations,” he says; “Maybe now you’re going to quit looking so heartbroken everytime you look at the guy. Since you’re already, you know, dating.”  
  
Ohno looks utterly shocked for a moment, both of them startles at the sound of someone knocking on the door, followed by a familiar voice that has Ohno jumping from his chair upon hearing it.  
  
It is Ninomiya.  
  
Sho chuckles under his breath and watches the way Ohno steps forward, then stops when he realized what he’s doing, eyes darting between the door and Sho’s face. Sho shakes his head at Ohno’s obvious embarrassment, and grins as he bows his head and goes to open the door to let Ninomiya in.  
  
  
++  
  
“I…D-Do you need anything, N-Ninomiya-san?” Ohno asks, averting his eyes.   
  
Nino looks so good today that Ohno can’t help but appreciate the way his slacks are hugging his narrows hips, how damn sexy he looks on that yellow shirt of his.   
  
God, Ohno feels kind of dirty for wanting to put his arms around Nino right now, the urge to press his nose against Nino's temple and breathe him in is so strong he could barely resist it. Well, it’s not like he can’t help it, can he? He spent the entirety of last night rolling around in his bed after all, unable to sleep as he hugs his pillow tight, imagining it was Nino.  
  
_This is bad,_ Ohno thinks, but can’t really bring himself to care when he’s so damn happy it must be ridiculous. He can’t stop smiling, can’t stop remembering the way Nino went willingly to him the night before, the way Nino’s lips fit perfectly against his own when they kissed.  
  
“Ohno-san, Sir?” Nino’s voice prompted him out of stupor, and Ohno realized he is grinning again. It took him quite a long moment to rearrange his expression into something that isn’t too creepy, but even he has doubts.   
  
He can’t trust himself to act entirely professional around Nino now, especially here in his office where they made out like teenager the night before.  
  
Honestly, Ohno had trouble keeping a straight face walking through that door this morning knowing how damn easy it is for Sho to figure him out. The last thing he wants is Sho preaching him about propriety once Sho was let in on the secret that he and Nino were here last night, smooching like horny teenagers against that same door Sho walks in and out from several times a day.  
  
Ohno looks up in time to find Nino’s brows are raised, his lips curling teasingly at the edges. Ohno wants to go there and touch him, feel Nino’s smile melt beneath his skin but he holds himself.   
  
“Y-Yeah?”  
  
Nino takes the last deciding footsteps forward and places the file folder Ohno now realizes he is carrying with him on the table. Ohno glances at it briefly before he takes his gaze back to Nino’s face.   
  
“It’s the Chiba project proposal,” Nino say, reminding Ohno about it. “You said you wanted to see it, right?”  
  
Ohno nods. He does, though half-heartedly. There’s something else he wants to do but he can’t really do it here, now, can he?  
  
“Well then, just call me when you’re done with it. And tell me what you think about it, if it’s okay.” Nino says when Ohno says nothing, just sits there contemplating about so many things at once until Nino bows his head and steps back to leave.  
  
“W-Wait! Wait, Ninomiya-san, I –“  
  
Nino turns then, and Ohno is treated with the sight of that obvious smirk lilting at the corners of Nino’s mouth. If Ohno is assaulted with the urge to kiss Nino earlier but was able to smother it, seeing the expression on Nino’s face now, the urge returns ten-folds Ohno can barely stand it.   
  
“Yes?” Nino asks.   
  
Ohno stands up, glances briefly outside the glass window, vaguely aware at the way Nino is walking backwards to the door, lips pursed and eyes lit with anticipation. Ohno follows, heart thudding, blood pounding in his ears as he takes the few steps to reach Nino, sure that they are shielded from view as he reaches for Nino, hands tender on Nino’s nape and kisses him.  
  
  
++  
  
  
“Nino-chan, are you okay?” Aiba asks when Nino came back from his (too) quick trip to the President’s office.   
  
“Huh?” Nino blinks, “Yeah. Why do you ask?” he locates his mouse and watches his computer screen blinks to life.   
  
He is trying to suppress the smile threatening to creep onto his face but it’s difficult. He licks his lips, absently, still feeling the lingering warmth Ohno’s own left there when the other man (not-really) surprised him with a kiss before he went out of Ohno’s office earlier.  
  
Nino soon finds Aiba’s palm pressed against his forehead but Nino is either too slow or too absent-minded to realize what it means.   
  
He chuckles, batting Aiba’s hand away.  
  
“What?”  
  
Aiba gives him a thoughtful look, at the same time Nino’s phone vibrates in his drawer. “You sure you’re okay?” Aiba asks as Nino pulls his drawer open for his phone. “You’re so red. I’m worried you’re sick or something.” Aiba continues.   
  
Nino shakes his head at the same time he picks up his phone. There’s an unread text there, frowns when he realizes it’s from an unknown number.  
  
“I’m fine, really.” He says, absently, as he unlocks his phone. He taps on the screen and is honestly surprised reading the message, his chest thudding painfully at the familiar content.  
  
_I’m back in Japan_ , the message reads; _and I want to meet you. It’s fine, right? Just for old time’s sake, Kazu. Please?_  
  
Nino drops the phone, his fingers shaking. 


	11. Chapter 11

Nino barely gave Aiba a glance when the other man picks Nino’s phone up from the floor for him. Nino takes it when Aiba gave it back, barely noticing the genuine concern on Aiba’s face and his tone either when Aiba asked him again, as he’s too busy checking the message he received prior to even care.  
  
Toma is in Japan, of all the fucking time, really, and is requesting for them to meet. Nino doesn’t get why Toma is acting like they’re old friends instead of lovers that fell apart because one became so damn possessive it was borderline creepy but that’s exactly what it feels like.  
  
Toma sounded like he doesn’t even remember (or if he does, he honestly seems like he doesn’t care) why Nino left everything in Singapore behind – his life, his job, and the man himself, without as much as another word when Nino decided it was high time to fly back home and start over.  
  
Nino can’t help but feel queasy because, well, it’s Toma, and the last time Nino checked, Toma hated him. He wasn’t exactly ecstatic about Nino leaving Singapore – and him – in haste, without even telling him and Nino guesses it’s understandable. They have no formal breakup, no final discussion about the two of them but at the time, Nino didn’t think it was even possible.  
  
Toma was acting like a crazed man and there was nothing Nino wanted more then than to fly back home and just stay as far as he could from Toma as possible.  
  
He wanted to get out of there, and fast, so when the opportunity presented itself, Nino grabbed it without a second thought.  
  
It wasn’t easy, but Nino did it anyway. Nino did love Toma, and the first few months with him had been nothing but blissful but soon enough, things changed. Nino noticed Toma’s tendency to be violent when he didn’t know where Nino was, when Nino forgot to mention he was going somewhere, or even when Nino was just hanging out with his friends.  
  
Nino took it all in stride at first, thinking Toma was just acting crazy because he loved him, but Nino was wrong. Toma’s violent tendencies became too much to handle, his possessiveness drove Nino insane time and time again.  
  
The last deciding straw was when Toma unexpectedly visited Nino during his working hours and found an English guy asking Nino for direction and Toma hurrying over to drag the guest away, fuming, that Nino finally lost it.  
  
That moment, he knew he had to decide.  
  
It was the choice between what’s good for him and the disaster he knew he would have to face if he stayed. Toma was quickly becoming unbearable – he got jealous easily, he wanted in on everything that was happening in Nino’s life that it was beginning to exhaust Nino in ways he never even thought possible.  
  
Hotel Samii-jima’s spot-on headhunting then was what gave him the opportunity to re-think his life choices and so when he was hired on the spot, he knew it was time to go.  
  
Months later, after that one understandably long and enraged email from Toma, he never heard from the man again, and Nino thought that was it.  
  
Toma was just another person he met, from another time, from another place. A forgettable memory. Something Nino had no intention of remembering ever again.  
  
Until now.  
  
He sighs, gaze sweeping across the message one last time and decides to ignore it for now. He will have to deal with it later, of course, _of course,_ but for now, he will not let Toma’s presence screw up his chance to be happy with someone else, to enjoy someone else’s attention on him after so long.  
  
His phone vibrates as if on cue, startling him. Nino has to literally remind himself to breathe as he checks who the message is from. He’s honestly relieved when he squints and sees it isn’t from an unknown number, but from the president himself, from Ohno.  
  
It reads, _Are you busy tonight?_  
  
Nino smiles; he can’t help that he finds the President’s child-like attitude charming, and really, Nino can’t even remember the last time he feels this way about someone _._ He types _, Not really. Why?_  
  
Ohno’s reply comes two seconds later. _Brilliant. Can I invite you over for dinner, then?_  
  
Nino giggles, can’t not, feeling slightly ridiculous, but to hell with it. He types, _Dinner again? Sir_ , a _re you planning on making me fat?_ , smiling and rolling his eyes as he taps SEND.  
  
He waits, eyes darting to the President’s office and giggling quietly finding Ohno checking him out through the blinds. God, why is he so cute? It’s honestly distracting Nino from his work, from getting things done but he guesses it can’t be helped. He likes Ohno a lot, after all.  
  
His phone vibrates five seconds later and Nino is honestly glad for the distraction, but mostly happy that Ohno’s able to easily turn his mood around just by being there.  
  
_Not really, no. I just...feel like cooking tonight and eating dinner with you, if it’s okay. I mean, it’s fine, right? And don’t worry about getting fat. I know just about the best exercise there is to slim you down._ Ohno replies.  
  
Nino finds himself giggling uncontrollably at that. Goodness, is this even happening?  
  
He types, _Oh my, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you have just offered me sex, or am I being too presumptuous?,_ he replies, cheeks warm.  
  
Honestly, it is one thing to have your new boyfriend (Jesus, he still cringes at the sound of it) which is also your employer, kiss you so very passionately against his office door, then flirt with you through text afterwards as if he doesn’t even care that he’s doing so in the sanctity of his workplace, but to have him offer Nino sex in the cutest and vaguest way ever is another.  
  
It’s also kind of wonderful that Ohno is so very thoughtful of him, offering to cook for him even though he doesn’t really need to. Nino’s not that fond of eating after all but it’s wonderfully appealing to have someone who goes out of his way just to cater Nino’s needs for him the way Ohno does.  
  
But it’s not just it. After their initial fall out where Nino thought he was being stalked, again, Ohno turned everything around by being so patient with Nino, by being just the exact opposite of how Toma was before.  
  
It’s honestly kind of refreshing to be with someone who cares so much about Nino this way, as if every minute spent in the company of the president, Nino’s able to know more about the other side of the other man not that many people are lucky enough to get a glimpse of.  
  
And Nino likes the freedom of being able to see those lovable qualities up-close, likes that he is allowed to look, to observe, however long he wants to his heart’s content.  
  
Nino likes it, to be honest; he likes that even now, even despite the fact that Ohno is his boss and thus, he should tend to act like one even outside the office, Ohno doesn’t. Nino likes the cute fact that Ohno still tiptoes around him as if he’s afraid to upset Nino in any way, like he’s scared he’ll push Nino away for good. Nino likes that Ohno’s so gentle with him, never rushing him, always waiting for any and all sort of confirmation from Nino before he goes and do something brave like, say, touching Nino, or kissing him.  
  
Well, the kissing part Nino is fastly becoming Nino’s favorite. He’s certain he’s going to be asking more of it, and soon.  
  
_I…seriously have no idea what you mean, Ninomiya-san_ , Ohno replies and Nino can just imagine him right now, cheeks flushed in embarrassment. _I was actually going to suggest you visit the company gym for that purpose. I go there myself every Wednesdays and Fridays after all, so if you want, we can go and exercise together._  
  
Nino chuckles under his breath, careful not to act so obvious lest he’ll give himself away. He wishes he can go and bother Ohno in his office again, just to see Ohno for himself but he doesn’t want to risk being caught smooching his boss during work hours, especially with Sakurai lounging outside the door like a protective guard dog.  
  
_Very well_. _Let me think about it for now,_ he types back, grinning smugly, before he locks his phone and places it back to his drawer. He realizes he is calmer now despite the fact that he is still worried, but he guesses he can just think about that later.  
  
For now, there’s something more important he’ll be looking forward to later.  
  
And he can’t wait.  
  
  
+++  
  
Ohno honestly contemplated inviting Nino over but it’s just so difficult not to give in to the urge, especially after what happened earlier (and last night, too). He wants to know Nino better, watch him closely as much as he could (if given the chance, that is) and what better way to do it than to have him sit close to him, in a place where he’s most comfortable with.  
  
He checks his phone again and finds himself smiling dreamily as he goes through the messages like a teenager texting his crush. It’s honestly embarrassing, how the simple fact that he’s reading these messages is enough to make him smile and giggle like an idiot, but there he is.  
  
Either way, it doesn’t matter because he likes it.  
  
Somehow, it’s still too early to decide where they’re going from here, but Ohno wants to take his chance. There hadn’t been anyone amongst those people he met throughout his adult life that piqued his interest the way Nino has and it’s...refreshing, if not surprising, to say the least.  
  
It’s like Nino has everything Ohno likes in a person, wrapped up into this complicated but admittedly beautiful package that Ohno fully intends to slowly uncover, if given the chance. And he knows he is going to enjoy every minute of it, simply because it’s Nino.  
  
The clock chimes. Ohno swivels around on his chair trying to get a glimpse of Nino through the blinds, smiling to himself. Aside from Nino, everyone is obviously rushing to put their tables in order, chatting while they prepare to leave. Nino, on the other hand, remains completely at ease, smiling softly and mouthing something to Aiba when the taller man taps him on the shoulder.  
  
Soon enough, everyone leaves. Ohno gets up from his chair at the same time Sho knocks on the door and pushes it open.  
  
“Sho-kun, we’re done for the day, right?” he asks even before Sho can open his mouth.  
  
“As far as your schedule is concerned? Yes, I don’t think there’s anything urgent you need to finish today and there’s nowhere you have to be, either.” Sho says, “Shall we head straight home, then?”  
  
Ohno shakes his head, watching Nino outside, fascinated and equal-parts glad he gets to enjoy the view now without the ever-permanent twisting in his chest whenever he stares at Nino for far too long.  
  
“Yeah,” he says, loosening his tie as he walks to the door. “You should.”  
  
“Eh? Where are you going, Sir –“  
  
He waves a hand in answer before he pushes the door open. “With Ninomiya-san,” he says, cutting Sho off completely. “I invited him over for dinner so I’m going to ask him if we can go together. See you later, Sho-kun.” He says, waving Sho goodbye.  
  
When he gets outside, he breathes, deeply, gaze settling on Nino, who raises his head just in time and catches him looking. Nino smiles as if on cue, and Ohno’s stomach flutters nervously at the sight of him, fingers twitching with the urge to touch Nino’s face.  
  
He walks, absently minding the fact that he could literally trip over on something and accidentally killing himself but ignores it in favor of rushing towards Nino. He’s close enough to him when he stops, ducks down feeling slightly embarrassed at the way Nino is smiling softly back at him.  
  
“Getting ready to leave, Sir?” Nino asks when he doesn’t. God, how’s it even possible that even the sound of Nino’s voice is sexy for Ohno? It’s completely unfair, but also kind of not.  
  
“Um, just about,” he says, raising his head and looking Nino in the eyes. He smiles. “And you?” it’s obvious, stupid, he chastises himself mentally, but his answer seems too funny for Nino. He is giggling and Ohno really, really likes that look on him, too.  
  
God, he’s hopelessly smitten and he guesses there’s nothing he could do about it now.  
  
“I was actually hoping you’re here to ask me whether we could go together,” Nino asks, looking smug, kind of sheepish; Ohno wants to kiss him right here. “since you’ve invited me to dinner and all.”  
  
Ohno takes a moment to appreciate the fact that Nino is there, so close for him to touch and is allowing Ohno the luxury to look; Ohno is simply glad for the opportunity he is given, appreciates it even more so now. He smiles and Nino does, too, and this time, he doesn’t bother keeping his hand to himself as he reaches over and cups Nino’s cheek, brushes his thumb across the underside of Nino’s eyes and feels his heart swoops at the lovely, lovely way Nino’s eyelashes flutter against his fingertips.  
  
“I was actually kinda thinking how to ask,” he says, voice low.  
  
“Just ask,” Nino says, and Ohno notices the way his voice is husky, kind of breathless. “I’m actually rather easy, if you haven’t noticed it yet.” he adds, then flushes as if he realizes what he’d just said. Ohno chuckles, and feels suddenly brave as he holds Nino’s gaze in his – steady, deliberate, unyielding.  
  
Nino tilts his head just so, giving Ohno an unobstructed view of Nino that he gets to enjoy even more – the way Nino’s eyes glows beneath the overhead light, his cheeks tainted with warmth as Ohno’s palm holds him gently there. He can’t help but wish they are anywhere but here so he can pull Nino closer to him and kiss him, tell him how beautiful he is and how Ohno wants him all for himself.  
  
He can’t, though; not now. But he hopes later, he could.  
  
“I’d say you’re really, really not, but that’s okay,” Ohno counters, with meaning, as he squeezes Nino’s jaw lightly. “I like you like that, anyway.”  
  
“S-Sir, I –“  
  
Nino blushes even more and Ohno really, really needs to let go right now if he doesn’t want to end up kissing the air straight from Nino’s mouth in the next few seconds. He chuckles, lets his fingers run across Nino’s jawline before he pulls away, already missing Nino’s warmth beneath his hand when he did.  
  
He swallows the urge despite the difficulty and forces a smile instead. He throws his hand between them, palm spread and prompts Nino with a bow and a curt,  
  
“Shall we go, then? Our taxi is waiting for us outside, I think.” He says, trusting Sho to do a courtesy call knowing he doesn’t want to be driven home this time.  
  
Nino giggles, quietly, and Ohno revises the things he likes about this man, adding one more on the list and already expecting finding more as he goes.  
  
Truthfully, he doesn’t mind. He’s more than a little invested already, and he knows there’s no going back. He likes being in love with Nino, and that’s that.  
  
He smiles and takes Nino’s hand in his, threading their fingers together and pulling Nino towards the direction of the door.


	12. Chapter 12

12.1

  
It feels entirely different somehow, being here now after the last time Ohno invited him over.   
  
It’s quiet when they reached the door. Nino hesitantly accepted the slippers Ohno offered him – Nino realized they’re the same ones he used the last time he was here –  and slipped them on as Ohno stood quietly by, watching Nino. When he’s done, Ohno smiled and took Nino’s hand in his without saying anything, leading them both towards the direction of the living room, slapping the lights on as they go.   
  
They are near the familiar brown couch when they stop. Nino knows they’re there because he can feel the couch’s arm digging against the backs of his ankles when he stills, eyes searching Ohno’s face.   
  
“Shall we sit?” Ohno asks after a moment, gesturing behind them without taking his gaze away from Nino’s face. Nino nods. There’s a different kind of silence now that they’re alone, anticipation bubbling into the surface with every second that tick by.  
  
Ohno guides him down to sit, before he himself follows, sitting closely beside Nino, their thighs touching. Ohno turns, still says nothing as he tugs at their joined hands again, sliding them on his lap as he pretends to examine them.   
  
Nino honestly doesn’t know what to say and just watches in quiet awe as Ohno gives Nino’s hand the attention Nino’s not certain it even deserves. It goes on for a while, Nino humming softly, breathing unevenly especially when Ohno starts tracing Nino’s knuckles tenderly with a fingertip as if he is mapping Nino’s skin like this, like he’s trying to commit every single part of Nino he is able to touch to memory by simply doing so.  
  
Nino feels warm in all the places that count, breathes sharply when Ohno looks up and holds his gaze in his even as he traces the back of Nino’s palm gently, tenderly, as if he doesn’t even know he’s doing it.   
  
“Nino,” he hears his name, soft it is almost uncertain, as it leaves Ohno’s mouth and Nino’s stomach flips at the sound of it. Ohno licks his lips and Nino’s eyes follow the movement, picking up the sounds he is certain he didn’t make as he locks his gaze on Ohno’s lips.   
  
Ohno smiles – small and soft and lovely – and Nino’s heart races at the sight of it, fingers shaking, wishes he could touch Ohno’s smile beneath his hands until it stops.  
  
“Nino, Nino, Nino,” Ohno repeats, and the smile that breaks across his face is one that leaves Nino breathless. He grins, and somehow, despite the expected awkwardness, Nino finds the distinct lack of it between them now, especially with the way they are pressed almost claustrophobically close to each other while Ohno draws soft circles at the back of Nino’s palm.  
  
“Yes?” he sighs back, gaze darting between Ohno’s lips and the unspoken questions brimming behind Ohno’s eyes. It’s a little distracting to be this close to Ohno and not do something about it, the air between them is heavy it is almost unbearable. Nino whines softly to ease the tension, hopes he could tug at their joined hands so he could tell Ohno to come closer and make it stop.  
  
Thankfully, Ohno moves first. Nino feels slightly disoriented when Ohno hums and works his fingers from Nino’s wrist to his forearms, and he’s already shivering before he feels Ohno’s hand settling against the curve of his nape. By this time, Nino is already breathing harshly into the space between their faces, cussing under his breath when Ohno tentatively leans in closer to repeat Nino’s name softly two more times, close but still not close enough to bridge the distance between their lips.   
  
Ohno wheezes as if he’s run for miles, and it’s frustrating and equal-parts pleasing to see that Nino’s not the only one. Ohno’s eyes have gone very dark, his Adams apple bobs on a heavy swallow, and Nino’s fingers itch to reach out so he can feel it move beneath his hand.  
  
“I think I’ve changed my mind about cooking dinner,” Ohno says, breath warm against Nino’s lips; Nino nods his head in agreement to this, chest heaving hard and eyes crossing as he tries to follow the movements of Ohno’s lips. Ohno mutters something indistinct under his breath, something Nino didn’t quite get until Ohno repeats it, slightly louder this time.  
  
“Shall we order in?” Ohno asks, fingertips sliding over Nino’s bottom lip in a way that is both teasing and wanting, and Nino gives up pretending he wants to take it slow from here.   
  
Nino keens in answer, hands fumbling to grab the front of Ohno’s dress shirt to hold on to. He’s panting for breath within the next few seconds, waiting for any sort of confirmation from Ohno, throat dry and lips even drier as he draws Ohno closer.   
  
Ohno hisses in answer, flicks his tongue out to wet his lips and the gesture alone is enough to drive Nino crazy.  
  
  
  
Screw food, because right now, all he wants is to feel Ohno’s mouth on him again, feel it slide over and in between Nino’s lips for a thorough taste.   
  
He’s not waiting anymore.   
  
“S-Sure, but later,” he says, harshly, before he pulls Ohno in for a hard, almost demanding kiss.  
  
  
++  
  
Ohno knows he should think about this very seriously, but somehow, he just can’t. Nino makes it specifically hard to think sensibly when he’s pressed close to Ohno like this, his small hands framing Ohno’s face as they kiss.   
  
There’s a noise he needed to vocalize, especially when Nino pulls his lips back to breathe. Ohno realizes he is moving to follow the lost heat, cupping Nino’s cheek and sliding his mouth wetly over Nino’s for a quick nip, while Nino pants heavily against him.  
  
“O-Ohno-san, S-Sir, I –“ Nino starts but Ohno cuts him off with another kiss; they keep at it for as long as their lungs will allow them, panting when they break apart for air a few moments later.   
  
“It’s just Ohno,” he says, tracing Nino’s bruised lips gently, his own still tingles warmly from Nino’s kisses. Nino nods, and Ohno takes the opportunity to brush Nino’s cheek with his fingertip, soft and tender, as Nino sighs against him. “Okay?”  
  
Nino tilts his head just the slightest bit and leans further into Ohno’s hand, nods into submission as he presses close. Ohno wants him so badly it hurts.  
  
He turns and slides his arms around Nino, pulling Nino in for another kiss; he is only vaguely surprised to find Nino’s mouth is already parted open for him but is more aware at the fact that he is eagerly anticipating the wet slide of Nino’s lips against his own as Nino whines into his mouth. Ohno slips his tongue past Nino’s lips without even realizing he’s doing it, groans at the enticing heat he finds there before his instincts take over.   
  
No words are needed when Nino is scooting forward to press their bodies together closer in answer, humming indistinct words into Ohno’s mouth as he tugs at the short hairs on the back of Ohno’s head to pull Ohno closer.   
  
Somehow, it doesn’t even come as a surprise that Nino ends up straddling his lap soon enough, fingers alternating between stroking his cheeks and touching his ears. It isn’t, not when he’s busy eating Nino’s mouth to even care, learning the ways he could make Nino moan when he flicks his tongue against Nino’s own as he kneads the small of Nino’s back softly.   
  
“ _Hmph – ungh_ –“ Nino keens when Ohno takes his lips somewhere else, sliding it over and across Nino’s jawline to his chin. It takes Ohno a while to appreciate the way Nino has his back arched, head thrown back when he attaches his lips to Nino’s throat, groans at the faint taste of Nino’s sweat mingled with his cologne beneath his tongue.  
  
“O-Ohno-san, p-please,” Nino keens and rocks his hips against Ohno’s as if he can’t help himself. Ohno groans, shocked at the feel of a rapidly hardening cock digging against his chest knowing that his own is straining hard against the fabric of his own trousers in answer.  
  
“Ah, _God_ –“ Ohno shifts back, taking Nino with him,  only vaguely glad for the little bit of space the couch provides as he parts his legs wide enough to accommodate Nino’s weight. Nino moans and catches Ohno’s mouth for another kiss, before he pulls completely away, leaving Ohno whining in protest.   
  
“Stay there,” Nino says, voice unexpectedly steady given the circumstances. He slides down on the floor in between Ohno’s parted legs, hands warm on Ohno’s knees and situates himself there with a grin. Ohno’s stomach is in knots as he watches Nino slides his fingers up his calf, then further up to his hips before they weave their way to the front of Ohno’s trousers. Ohno is too stunned to move, too shock to even comment on the way Nino tentatively touches his dick through his pants, traces the shape of him through the unforgiving fabric before Nino’s fingers work on the zipper.  
  
“Oh God –“  
  
“Shhh,” Nino hushes, eyes on his fingers working Ohno’s zipper open. Ohno can only watch, can only pant and hiss and shiver, feeling the warmth of Nino’s touch when Nino slides his palm over the bulge Ohno’s cock makes through his boxers before Nino cups him fully.   
  
“God, you’re so hard,” Nino comments as he licks his lips, before working his fingers to find Ohno’s balls through its offending confinements. Ohno gasps sharply, mouth parted in anticipation watching Nino slip his fingers through the garters of his boxers, hand warm finding Ohno hard and ready, already slick at the tip.   
  
“And big. God, I’m so going to enjoy doing this,” Nino says, and before Ohno knows it, Nino has drawn his cock out and is squeezing it, thumb sliding across the shiny tip. Ohno’s groans are trapped in his throat the moment Nino raises his head to meet his gaze and throws him a wink, before he is ducking his head and leaning in for a quick lick across the tip.

 

++

 

Nino takes his time. It’s a seriously mouth-watering task, tasting Ohno’s dick like this despite the urgency tingling beneath his fingertips. He honestly wants to do more, to swallow Ohno’s cock whole and take Ohno’s dick to the back of his throat as deep as he could manage it, show him how good he is at this but for now, he doesn’t.    
  
He keeps up with the slow torture, satisfied at the way Ohno sits perfectly still there on the couch despite the way his fingers worm their way to the back of Nino’s head, clutching at Nino’s hair lightly. Nino knows he’s doing it far better than he would normally, judging with the soft noises spilling out of Ohno’s mouth everytime Nino would hollow his cheeks to suck more of Ohno’s dick into his mouth.    
  
Sometimes, he is moaning around his mouthful and Ohno’s fingers will tighten involuntarily on Nino’s hair in answer as Nino laps generously at the head while he moans Ohno’s name.   
  
He sits back on his haunches at the same time Ohno spreads his legs wider to give him more space. It’s a tricky maneuver but Nino is nothing but good at squeezing himself even in the tightest of spaces, shifting just so without letting go of Ohno’s cock. By this time, he has a hand wrapped around the base of Ohno’s dick, squeezing it lightly as he sucks on the head.    
  
Ohno hisses, hips jerking as if he can’t help himself and Nino likes that he’s the one who does this to Ohno, that he can break Ohno down like this with just his mouth and hands. He likes the sounds Ohno makes when he runs his tongue alongside the base, mouthing the veins around it and then ending the exploration by sliding his tongue over the dripping slit. He likes the way Ohno shivers involuntarily when he blows warm air over and across it, running the soft pad of his thumb over the sensitive head and watching the evidence of Ohno’s arousal gathering at the tip.   
  
He pulls away to breathe, licking around his lips as he pumps Ohno’s dick steadily. It twitches in his grasp and Nino just leans over to catch the entire head into his mouth to suck on it hungrily before he can even stop himself.   
  
“N-Nino –“ Ohno gasps, hips jerking as if on autopilot; Nino hums through his mouthful and does what he normally would when there’s a cock in his mouth and he wants it to stay there, parting his mouth wide enough to accommodate its length. Ohno chokes on nothing and Nino closes his eyes on cue at the same time he slaps his hands on Ohno’s legs to steady himself, and then sliding them on either side of Ohno’s hips the second after as he raises his hips holding on to Ohno’s own for leverage.   
  
“Oh – s-shit –“ Ohno curses when Nino all but pinches his hips to urge him on, holding himself up as Ohno slowly withdraws his hips – and of course, his dick – all the way out of Nino’s mouth. Nino doesn’t mind that he probably looks more than a little filthy right now, mouth parted wide waiting for Ohno’s cock to slip back in, breath coming out in ragged puffs.   
  
“Give it to me,” he hisses, his words almost muffled by the head of Ohno’s cock poking the corners of Nino’s lips, his gaze focus on Ohno’s crotch; it’s so beautiful that Nino can’t help but stare at it, at the way it is standing proudly in between Ohno’s legs, the copper-colored tip shining with the evidence of Ohno’s desire mingled with Nino’s spit.    
  
“Come on, _Oh-chan_ , feed it to me. I want it.”    
  
Ohno groans yet again and Nino keeps his eyes open, mouth parted as Ohno slowly lifts his hips up from the couch, one hand on his dick guiding it to Nino’s waiting lips. Nino swallows eagerly, vaguely hearing Ohno’s breathless pleas when he sucks on the head repeatedly.  Nino takes his time, doesn’t rush, even when he allows Ohno’s cock free entrance to his mouth, relaxing around the pulsating length before gradually allowing Ohno’s dick further into his mouth.    
  
  
++   
  
Ohno never had it this good.   
  
Sure, there are those few and far in between hook ups he managed in the past where some of the women (and a few men) were generous enough to go down on their knees to suck Ohno’s cock but they’re nothing in compared to the way Nino is doing it now.    
  
Even despite the position, despite the fact that he’s the only one with his cock out, Ohno is certain that he’s not the only one enjoying this. He can see, even from his awkward vantage point that Nino’s own dick is straining his pants, poking through the fabric. It is also evident in the way Nino keeps moaning around his mouthful that he wants Ohno to do more than roll his hips like that, pinching Ohno’s hips as if he is urging Ohno to do it harder, rougher, quicker.   
  
Ohno groans, low and outdrawn, and wonders yet again how in hell he got so fucking lucky. It can’t all be him, he thinks dazedly, fingers working around the back of Nino’s head as he thrusts his hips shallowly up into Nino’s mouth. Nino doesn’t even hesitate, he just goes and hollows his cheeks around Ohno’s twitching dick, hums around his mouthful and Ohno is certain he’s going to be daydreaming about this moment for as long he lives.    
  
He can feel his orgasm coiling around his hips as he keeps his eyes wide open, fucking Nino’s mouth as gently as he could manage it. He’s so damn tempted to do it faster, fingers sliding to Nino’s jaw and framing Nino’s face steady as he slams home, but he can’t because he doesn’t want to end up hurting Nino.    
  
“Holy – ah, fuck –“ Ohno groans, throws his head back as his fingers find the couch to hold on to. Nino keeps at it, obviously spurred on with the noises Ohno realizes he is making as his hips leave the couch to fuck Nino’s mouth, eyes wild and unfocused as he watches his dick slips in and out of Nino’s willing mouth.   
  
“N-Nino, w-wait, I’m going to –“ Ohno warns, stutters around the words wondering how he even manages it as he pushes at Nino’s shoulders but Nino doesn’t budge. Ohno watches, in shock, as Nino shifts his weight on his knees and leans down to take more of Ohno’s cock to the back of his throat in answer. Ohno half-yells, shudders violently as his dick touches the walls of Nino’s throat, eyes wide as he comes and comes, watching Nino’s throat work hard to swallow what he could.   
  
  
++   
  
He is being kissed senseless probably a minute later, Ohno humming into his mouth as he tugs Nino up by his shoulders. Nino goes with it willingly, sliding over Ohno’s lap and humming, feeling himself shuddering involuntarily at the closeness. He shivers when Ohno’s fingers touch him hesitantly through his pants, groans when Ohno’s tongue plunges his mouth for a thorough taste.    
  
Nino pulls away, panting, ducks down to watch Ohno’s fingers palming his dick before taking his gaze back to Ohno’s face. Nino shivers yet again at the wild but honestly amazed look on Ohno’s face, but more so at the underlying tenderness brimming brightly behind Ohno’s eyes.    
  
He reaches down to touch the back of Ohno’s wrist, carefully sliding his fingers over Ohno’s own to help. Ohno raises his head and stares at Nino in question, and Nino just leans over and kisses him hard, can’t not, moaning into Ohno’s mouth as he guides Ohno’s hand over his throbbing hard on.   
  
“N-Nino –“   
  
“Yes,” Nino mumbles, arching back into Ohno’s touch and wanting more of that wonderful friction. He’s straining inside the confinements of his boxers, wriggling to get comfortable and sighing in relief when he feels Ohno’s fingers start on the button of his pants. “Oh fuck, yes.”   
  
And then they’re kissing again.    
  
It’s difficult to work around the space he’s provided but he does what he can, lifting his hips up when Ohno needs him to so Ohno can push his pants down his narrow hips. Nino hums his answer, gasps when Ohno gives no warning and simply shoves his hand inside the garters of Nino’s boxers to cup a feel, finding Nino hard and so, so ready for Ohno when Ohno grabs him one-handedly.   
  
“God, you’re –“ Ohno breathes, lips warm against Nino’s neck; Nino worms his arms around Ohno’s shoulders for dear life, watches, dazed, as Ohno draws Nino’s cock out from its hiding and starts pumping it in slow, measured strokes.    
  
“Yes, yes, oh please,” Nino sighs, biting his lips as he chants Ohno’s name under his breath. Ohno hums Nino’s name in return, mouth seeking Nino’s for an open-mouthed kiss as he pulls at Nino’s cock. Nino rolls his hips in answer, a whining sound tearing itself from the back of his throat at the feel of Ohno’s thumb rolling over the head of Nino’s cock, rubbing the sticky evidence of Nino’s desire over and around it.    
  
“So good, Oh-chan, it feels so –“   
  
“Nino –“ Ohno groans and leans up to suck at Nino’s pulse-point; Nino gives up trying to hold it in, mewls when Ohno flexes his wrist just right and outright keens when Ohno squeezes the base tight.    
  
It’s so fucking wonderful Nino can’t help but praise Ohno about it, the roughness with which Ohno is holding Nino’s cock has Nino aching for more as he arches his back and jerks his hips to counter the motion.    
  
“ _Jesus Christ_ –“ Ohno hisses, mouth latching on Nino’s neck and sucking. Nino whines at the sensation, rolling his hips hard and fast, feeling his orgasm as it fastly approaches. He’s panting against Ohno’s cheek, calling Ohno’s name and breathing harshly, Ohno pumping his cock quickly to make up for not being able to do more.    
  
But Nino doesn’t need him to, not anymore. Just the thought that Ohno is doing this to him, just the fact that it’s Ohno’s hand and long fingers touching Nino like this while Ohno is moaning his name is enough to tip Nino to the edge, shaking, shuddering violently as he arches and shoots his pleasure inside Ohno’s hand, Ohno catching his mouth and swallowing Nino’s cries when he came.    
  
+   
  
It should be awkward – it has to be, since it’s their first time together – but somehow, it isn’t. After the initial ‘what the hell are we supposed to do now?’ stare they throw each other once Nino regained faculties of his limbs and realized he is almost naked and straddling his boss’ lap, both of them just sort of ended up giggling at each other for no apparent reason.    
  
After that abrupt giggling session, Nino finds himself cooped up in Ohno’s arms, Ohno’s lips pressed lightly against his temple.    
  
“Nino,” Ohno hums, breath warm against Nino’s skin. It’s almost possessive, the way Ohno is holding him but Nino gets that it’s not. Ohno’s arms branded around him feels like a luxury, and Nino wonders yet again how it’s even likely that Ohno ended up liking him.    
  
Nino takes the opportunity presented and turns to nuzzle Ohno’s chin, fingers stroking the back of Ohno’s head.    
  
“Hmm?”    
  
Ohno shifts gently and Nino giggles yet again realizing that Ohno has yet to zip his pants and his cock – soft and marginally smaller than it was minutes before – is still hanging obscenely in between his legs.    
  
Ohno seems not to notice this as he is still kissing Nino’s temple, lips sliding down to Nino’s jaw before catching Nino’s lips, nipping it lightly while he leans back on the couch, taking Nino with him.    
  
“I like you,” Ohno mumbles when he pulls away, catching Nino around the waist and kissing him. Nino is too stunned to speak, but he is grinning so wide it must be creepy.    
  
“I like you so much, Nino.” Ohno says, hands framing Nino’s face gently.    
  
Nino tilts his head and allows those few lovely words sink in as he clasps his hands over Ohno’s own, mouthing the words back and meaning it. 


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for the lovely, TheFallenGod XD

The after-sex dinner was unexpectedly quiet, but nice.    
  
Ohno took the ‘good host’ very seriously by making sure Nino was well-attended during the whole affair. It was honestly heart-warming to be treated like he was someone special, because it seriously felt that way.    
  
Ohno made sure he took very good care of Nino, asking Nino if he was okay, if the food Ohno ordered for him was good (it was hamburg steak, so of course it was more than okay), refilling Nino’s beer glass for him even when it was still half-full. Nino was certain he hadn’t blushed as much in his life as he did that night, especially when Ohno would stop in between feeding himself only so he could reach over and touch Nino’s cheek.   
  
After that, they both took care of the take-out boxes, putting them in the trash bags while Ohno made small talk about his college years in England. Nino learned more about the man during that time, how Ohno single-handedly managed Samii-jima Hotels to where it was standing now.   
  
Where Nino honestly expected to hear the other man speak so proudly about himself, he didn’t. In fact, there was none of it, at all. Ohno fondly spoke about the challenges he encountered when he was starting out as if he couldn’t believe it himself, laughing at some parts and obviously tearing up on others.    
  
Three cups of black coffee later, Nino announced it was time to go.    
  
Ohno turns to give him a look; Nino realizes with a sort-of detached amusement that they are holding hands and Ohno is absently stroking the back of Nino’s palm with his thumb. Ohno smiles, soft and undeniably tender, before he is raising their joined hands and dropping an equally softer kiss to the backs of Nino’s knuckles without taking his gaze off of Nino’s face.   
  
Somehow, it gets Nino everytime; he can feel himself falling more and more deeper into the other man with those sweet, little gestures he makes, but even then, Nino knows he needs to be careful.    
  
He chuckles, lowering his gaze to the ground. He also tries tugging his hand away from Ohno’s grip but it only ends with him pulling Ohno along till they’re almost nose to nose.    
  
“Ohno-san, Sir, I said I need to go,” he says, mouth lilting into a half-smile. He honestly didn’t say it to tick Ohno off but it obviously did, judging with how Ohno’s smile disappears and he looks more than a little ready to do something really, really bad to Nino in retaliation.   
  
It probably ought to scare him, probably, but it didn’t. In fact, he could feel himself digging the idea of Ohno punishing him for doing something Ohno didn’t like, and Jesus, what does that even make him now?   
  
“Told you to quit calling me that when we’re alone, right?” Ohno says, voice tight. Nino feels like kissing him hard for it.    
  
“Did you?” he asks, just to be a jerk. Ohno raises one fine brow and tugs Nino closer by their joined hands. “Well, if you did, I seriously can’t remember it.”   
  
Ohno looks at him as if he’s considering calling him out on his lie, then thought better of it.    
  
“I’m reminding you now,”   
  
Nino smirks. “Okay.”   
  
“I’d like you to call me with that name you called me before,” Ohno tells him, breath warm against Nino’s face. He wants to lick him all the fuck over and it’s only the fact that it’s still too early for him to want to ask for it that he doesn’t. Maybe soon. Sooner. But not now.    
  
“What name and when was it?” Nino counters, teasing; Ohno purses his lips in answer, as if he is trying to gauge Nino’s honesty though Nino is not that stupid to give everything away. He has his pride too, of course.   
  
Ohno blushes a very pretty shade of red, his lips twitching in embarrassment; Nino wants to kiss him till it stops.    
  
“You know what,”   
  
Nino grins. “I don’t.”   
  
“Nino –“   
  
God, he is so cute. Nino could tease him all day if it means he could see all those adorable faces he makes, and that he could kiss it all away afterwards. He giggles and pulls at their twined hands so he could press their lips together, surprised but honestly glad for the way Ohno parts his own readily to welcome Nino in.    
  
Nino kisses him slow this time, just savoring the feel of Ohno’s lips moving against his own. It’s a perfect fit – Nino notes how they don’t even have those awkward nose-bumping incidents when they’re kissing because it sure feels like they both know exactly when to tilt their heads to deepen the kiss, as if they’ve actually done this kissing thing so many times before this.   
  
“I really have to go now, _Oh-chan_ ,” he says when he pulls away, touching Ohno’s ear and enjoying the way Ohno’s face breaks into a child-like grin. “Like really.”   
  
“Say that again, please,”   
  
Nino rolls his eyes in answer but does as he’s told, repeating his chosen nickname and giggling quietly at Ohno’s glee.    
  
He pinches Ohno’s cheek and bumps their foreheads together, noting the way that the knots inside his chest feels marginally thicker now than they were days before. Nino knows it’s all because of Ohno.   
  
“God, you’re so cute,” he says, stroking Ohno’s cheek in fondness because he can’t help it. “Stop it if you don’t want me to end up falling for you, okay?” he says, meaning it to be teasing until he realizes Ohno has slowly pull away and is staring at him very seriously.    
  
“Are you?” Ohno asks, voice low.    
  
“Am I what?”   
  
“Falling for me?”   
  
Nino thinks about it, really thinks about it and knows that he’s getting there. He’s probably already there, he thinks, but can he really say it, now?   
  
Maybe not, but he can’t say that either. So, he shrugs instead, letting Ohno feel the words he still can’t be man enough to admit by kissing Ohno softly, gently, almost hesitantly, hands tender on Ohno’s face. Ohno kisses back as if he can’t help it either, squeezing their hands together and humming softly into the kiss.    
  
“I’ll let you know when I do, okay?” he lies, only because he’s too shy to admit that he’s more than a little fond of Ohno now to know that it’s not just a common crush or something.    
  
Ohno takes one good look at him and Nino sees the way he’s contemplating too. _That’s makes the both of us, then_ , Nino thinks, noting the fact that they’re both not ready to admit it yet, but he guesses that’s just how it is. He’s not the only one who wants to take this slow, not the only one who wants to make sure they’re not going end up somewhere they both don’t want to be in if this doesn’t work out in the end.   
  
Nino hopes that’s not the case for them.    
  
He wants Ohno and what they could have together, to be honest, and Nino is willing to work hard to achieve it. He may not find the courage now, may not be brave enough to admit he’s falling for him and he’s falling for him fast but he’s certain that he will. Soon.    
  
Ohno smiles, cups Nino’s cheek in his hand and presses closer, gaze finding Nino’s and catching Nino off-guard the same way he did that day, many weeks ago when he pulls Nino closer and mumbles his agreement mostly against Nino’s lips.    
  
  
++   
  
He stands by the door and watches as Nino puts on his shoes. He feels more than a little confident now to be around Nino, to touch him when he wants to, after the surprising intimacy they’ve shared earlier.    
  
He still couldn’t believe it happened. Even now, he could feel his fingers tingle at the memory of himself fucking Nino’s mouth, of touching Nino till Nino came shaking in his own hand. He’s still admittedly half-hard hours after the encounter, embarrassingly so, though he tried not to think about it too much, more for his sanity’s sake than anything else.    
  
It sure was a damn good upgrade from what he had in mind when he invited Nino over, but he is not complaining. He sure didn’t think he would end up feeding Nino his dick before he even feed Nino with real food but he guesses things like that happens especially when he least expects it.   
  
Nino straightens when he’s done and gives him a smile that just about break his heart in half. He’s so beautiful that he can’t help but lean over and kiss his smiling mouth, arms going around Nino and pulling him in.    
  
“You’re a cuddly person, aren’t you?” Nino comments against his neck, chuckling; Ohno tightens his arms around him as if on cue.    
  
“Only with you,” he says.    
  
“Right,” Nino agrees, then moves to step away. He doesn’t let him. “Sir, seriously, it’s late,” Nino whines, pulling away; Ohno tightens his hold around him even more. He wants Nino to say his name again, but he doesn’t want to ask him to. He likes that nickname, even if he will probably never admit it.    
  
“Ohno-san, come on,” Nino sighs; Ohno turns and kisses his neck.    
  
“Seriously, Ohno-san –“ he leans and pecks Nino’s lips, cutting him off, before hugging him again.    
  
“ _Oh-chan_ , I really have to go now.” There. Ohno grins, then steps backward but only so he could press his palm against Nino’s cheek.    
  
“Do you really have to?” he asks. Nino’s brows arch in question. “I mean, why don’t you just stay the night?”

  
Nino blinks; Ohno can’t help himself from leaning in pressing his mouth against the side of Nino’s lips again, just because he can.   
  
“You’re not – I mean, are you serious?” Nino asks. He smiles and this time, he really needs to kiss Nino again. Not just the simple brush of lips against lips; he is pushing in before Nino has time to react, worming his hand round the back of Nino’s head to keep him in place.    
  
When he’s satisfied, he pulls back but he doesn’t let go.    
  
“I am,” he says, “I want you to. I mean it, Nino.”   
  
“But –“   
  
“Don’t worry, I have a  spare bedroom you can sleep in,” he says, meaning it. He gets that Nino is somewhat worried about the invitation, of its accompanying implication but he really just wants Nino to stay.    
  
And also, he doesn’t feel like letting Nino go this late.    
  
“I swear I won’t force you into anything, I promise,” he says, grinning when Nino snorts as if he’s already expecting it. “No, seriously. As you said, it’s late. And I’m sure you’re not going to allow me to call Okada to take you home even if I want to, and I’m certainly not going to let you take a cab at this hour so –“   
  
“Oh-chan, I think you’re mistaking me for a girl,” Nino counters, amused. “I can take care of myself, you know?”   
  
Of course he knows that, but still. “I know you can, but I’m not taking my chances.”   
  
“Seriously –“   
  
“Just this once?” he pleads. “Please, Nino?”   
  
Nino gives him a look, one that says he’s still slightly unconvinced but knows Ohno has a point anyway. He smiles, takes the opportunity to wrap Nino in his arms again (God, he’ll never get tired of this, ever) and kisses Nino’s ear.    
  
“We’re not sleeping in the same room, okay?” Nino says, fingers ending up clasping the front of his shirt.    
  
He giggles; Nino is so, so cute. “You’ll sleep on your own room, I promise.”   
  
“As I should,” Nino sniffs, nose in the air, “I’ve already broken too many rules since I met you. I’m not breaking another one tonight, at least if I can help it.”   
  
God, his heart better be strong enough to take on more of Nino’s charm because he can already feel how helpless he will be in the face of it.    
  
“Hmm, I’ll try my best to behave then,”   
  
“Make sure that you do,” Nino punches his chest lightly in retaliation, and Ohno catches Nino's hand, holds it in his own before raising it up and kissing it.    
  
“Yes, Nino.” He mumbles before he proceeds and helping Nino out of his shoes.


	14. Chapter 14

“Um, I hope this is okay…I mean, I only have these sweat pants and loose shirts available–“ Ohno says, then pauses, unsure whether he should avert his gaze seeing that Nino is in the middle of shucking his pants, and the only other reason it is still hanging around his hips like that is because Nino has his fingers hooked into his beltloops, holding his jeans up.    
  
It takes Ohno a moment to realize he should probably have knocked first, but then again, if he did, then he wouldn’t have been able to see Nino like this – half-naked, brows arched in amusement, his smile soft around the edges, beautiful.    
  
He is also already missing his shirt, his slim body on display and Ohno’s fingers twitch with the urge to touch; it’s far too difficult to break away from staring – the room’s dim light only made Nino look so damn fine, shadows falling over his liquid brown eyes, his fringe completely covering his right eye and Ohno feels his mouth water at the sight of him.    
  
“Hmm, I can sleep just fine in my boxers and shirt, though,” Nino says, his tone marred with amusement that has Ohno blushing in answer.  It’s going to take him long to get used to the fact that teasing is like second nature for Nino, and even longer to get used to seeing Nino like this - mouth curling into an amused smirk, barely-dressed inside Ohno’s house, and _his_.   
  
The last bit warms Ohno immensely, and he finds himself trekking the way inside, only stopping when he’s just two steps away from Nino. He stands there, unblinking, searching Nino’s face just because he wants to. His heart is thudding inside his ribcage, so damn close from throwing his offered clothes aside and grabs Nino’s hips to pull him closer.   
  
But then something passes in Nino’s eyes – almost a warning – and the sight of it snaps him back to the present; he swallows hard and closes his eyes, takes two steps back before reaching over to give Nino the clothes he has in his hand.   
  
“I…take these, please,” he says, wishes his voice isn’t shaking so much. God, he did promise Nino he will behave and yet he’s here, so damn close from tugging Nino to him and kissing him.    
  
Stupid. Really stupid. “It’s…um, freezing here. I don’t want you catching a cold or something.” He finishes, nudging the clothes into Nino’s naked (naked!) chest, carefully, and making sure his gaze is focused somewhere else, somewhere that isn’t Nino’s bare upper body, his smiling mouth or his fingers clutching the front of his pants.    
  
It’s hard but he mans up; he has to. He promised Nino, after all.   
Nino takes the clothes out of his hand and Ohno feels the barest of touches against his wrist before Nino is murmuring “Thanks, Oh-chan,” under his breath and crossing the short distance between their bodies to press a soft kiss to Ohno’s cheek.   
  
Ohno is too stunned to reply and just stands there blinking at the walls. When he came to, it’s to the sound of the bathroom door closing, coupled with the sounds of Nino’s quiet giggles as he shuts the door, leaving Ohno to deal with his disappointment – and his dick, which is again standing on attention, all by his lonesome self.   
  
He looks down, frustrated at best and stares pointedly at his dick tenting his pants.    
  
“Don’t even think about it,” he chastises it, with feelings; “I said don’t even think about it, you stupid –“   
  
“Oh-chan, are you talking to me?” The door to the bathroom opens abruptly and Nino peeks out, hair wet; Ohno shuts up almost immediately at the sight of him, drops his hands down to cover himself and forces out a smile that he hopes isn’t as creepy as he probably looks right now.   
  
“No, no, I wasn’t! I was actually, um…never mind,” he says instead, face warm. God, he’s an idiot. “G-Go ahead and finish your b-bath. I’m…I’ll go,”   
  
Nino smiles; Ohno wonders why it looks different, like Nino is saying something without using words, like he trusts Ohno to understand him.   
  
Ohno doesn’t. And it’s frustrating the crap out of him.    
  
“Please close the door,” Nino says.    
  
Ohno nods and starts for the door. “S-See you later.”   
  
“Later.” Nino returns; Ohno hears the tell-tale sound of the bathroom door closing. He sighs and walks the rest of the way outside, feeling slightly disappointed.   
  
  
  
++   
  
  
He got out of the bath probably half an hour later, feeling admittedly refreshed. The clothes  Ohno lent him are a bit loose, understandably so, since he’s obviously skinnier but that’s okay. They’re super comfortable and they smell really, really good, too, that Nino has to bury his nose against the fabric a couple of times to breathe the familiar scent in.    
  
It’s quiet in the room when he got out. At first he was honestly surprised to find Ohno gone, but then remembered what he said earlier, and Ohno’s reaction to it. Shaking his head, he grins, decides he’d better go out there and make sure Ohno didn’t end up digging himself a hole he could crawl in to hide, just to be safe.   
  
He chuckles, honestly amused at the idea as he gets to the door and let himself out.   
  
++   
  
Thankfully, Ohno has yet to dig himself a hole but it’s close; Nino finds him slouched at the far end of the couch, looking crestfallen and staring blankly into the space in front of him. Nino chuckles half-heartedly, hesitating only for a second before finding himself beaming in a sort of startling realization that that’s actually his boyfriend moping right there, someone Nino could easily cheer up with a kiss.    
  
He takes a seat beside Ohno without a word, scoots closer till their shoulders bump; the action obviously breaks into Ohno’s internal moping, turns to give Nino a look that is part-confused, part-shocked. Nino leans in to kiss his parted mouth.   
  
“You look sad,” he says when he pulls away. “Is it something I said?” he asks, just to be sure. Ohno blinks, but his gaze doesn’t stray away from Nino’s lips. Nino leans in and kisses him again.    
  
This time, Ohno doesn’t let him when he tries to pull away. Instead, Ohno holds him there, fingers worming around the back of his head to keep him in place. Nino hums, liking the fact that Ohno obviously shares Nino’s sentiments about kissing, or at least about kissing Nino back.    
  
Well, Nino won’t deny the fact that he likes the act enough to keep doing it, and doing it with Ohno specifically is fastly becoming one of Nino’s favorites. He also likes the fact that Ohno tends to always gain control over the situation, of the seldom times Nino himself started it, pressing closer and kissing Nino deeper in return.    
  
Nino likes that with Ohno, he doesn’t need to hesitate because Ohno likes him enough to let him lead the way, and the fact alone makes Nino braver, bolder.    
  
“Not really,” Ohno says, still mostly against Nino’s mouth when he breaks away, letting Nino breathe air back into his lungs, nosing Nino’s cheek. Nino knows he’s lying.    
  
He snorts, then turns to nip the tips of Ohno’s nose. “You’re a lying liar who lies,” he says, shifting and throwing his legs on Ohno’s lap – a very intimate and comfortable gesture from his side – and grins when Ohno looks sheepish for a moment as he carefully rearranges Nino’s legs on his lap.    
  
“Try harder,” he says, poking Ohno’s cheek, smirking.    
  
Ohno shakes his head and pats Nino’s legs. “It’s nothing, really.”   
  
Nino supposes he should let it go, but he refuses. Somehow, it isn’t just the fact that he wants to know more of Ohno, at least those sides of him that not everyone is lucky enough to see, but also because he wants to. He’s curious, and well, it isn’t like he has no right to even want to.    
  
He’s Ohno’s boyfriend, after all.   
  
“Oh-chan, come on, humor me,”   
  
Ohno darts his gaze from Nino’s face to Nino’s legs resting on Ohno’s lap and seems to think about it for a few seconds. Then without a word, he takes Nino’s hand and threads their fingers together; Nino watches, heart twisting with undeniable fondness seeing the expression on Ohno’s face.    
  
“I just. I’m ashamed of myself,” Ohno says, voice shaking a little. Nino honestly doesn’t know what to say, how to react, so he just remained quiet. Ohno obviously isn’t waiting for an answer because then he is lifting their joined hands together, lips pressing soft kisses over Nino’s knuckles.    
  
Somehow, the gesture shouldn’t surprise Nino anymore – Ohno’s done it several times already, after all – but Nino’s heart still leaps unexpectedly inside his ribcage whenever Ohno does the action.    
  
Nino clears his throat, watches as Ohno uses the opportunity to brush Nino’s cheek with his other hand – another familiar gesture – mouth still pressed against the back of Nino’s hand.    
  
“Why?”   
  
Ohno heaves a sigh. “I promised you I will behave, didn’t I?”   
  
Nino chuckles at that. “Oh-chan, seriously –“   
  
Ohno drops his gaze then, then his hand from brushing soothing touches across Nino’s cheek. Nino mourns the loss of them, hums to call Ohno’s attention. Ohno smiles shyly but doesn’t move to do anything else.    
  
“I almost jumped you right there,” Ohno confesses, and Nino swears his heart jumps at the admission; he doesn’t know why it made him inexplicably giddy – there is obviously something wrong with his brain for actually liking the idea of Ohno backing him to the wall and doing sinful things to him despite his promises to behave – but it just did and now Nino can’t stop thinking about it.    
  
“And I just…I know I shouldn’t, but it’s hard. I mean, you’re there and you’re…almost naked and I just – God, I’m so sorry, Nino.”   
  
Nino grins – he can’t help it – then scoots even closer, reaching over to cup Ohno’s chin.    
  
“Oh-chan, look at me –“   
  
Ohno doesn’t. “I know we’re supposed to take it slow – it’s what you want, right?, but it’s…after what we did, after you – after I –“ Ohno stutters, the expression on his face heart-breaking.    
  
“Are you worried I won’t have sex with you anymore?” Nino asks, amused. “Because that’s not going to happen, okay?”    
  
It’s obviously the right thing to say because immediately afterwards, Ohno raises his head to meet Nino’s gaze, fucking finally.  Nino grins.    
  
“I mean, if you’re truly worried about that, we don’t even have to wait. We can just have sex right now for all I care.” he says, startling Ohno. “Just to let you know I’m into this as much as you do, you silly, silly man.”   
  
“Nino –“   
  
“I know, okay?” he says, touching Ohno’s bottom lip. “You kept thinking about it, what we did, and that’s alright, because I do, too. And that’s the reason why I refused your invitation to stay earlier. I know what will happen – it’s not to say that it happened to me a lot of times, but oh, maybe just a handful, but well, enough to know what I’m talking about.”   
  
Ohno looks torn between being confused and jealous, and Nino wonders yet again how he got so lucky, to have this man like him this much.    
  
“What do you mean?”   
  
Nino shakes his head. “The sexual tension, Oh-chan,” he says, straight-forward, just the way he always wants things to be, and grins at the way Ohno blushes a pretty shade of red upon hearing it. “It doesn’t matter that we’ve done it once – and what we did earlier was just a little taste of what amazing things we could do together – we would want to do it again, and again, and again, and that alone is reason enough to know how difficult it will be for us to be around each other now. I mean, I can’t say the same for you but I keep having these stupid urges to pull your pants down and suck you whenever I see you and that’s going to be a huge problem for us since we’re both working in the same office.”   
  
Ohno whips his head up, frowns fiercely. “Are you saying you should resign? No, I won’t allow it –“   
  
Nino chuckles, squeezes Ohno’s chin. “No, silly, I’m just telling you that it’s okay, that it’s normal to feel that way. You want me, and that’s – well, that’s normal. I mean, I do feel the same way about you, after all, so it’s nice to know that you want me just as much.”   
  
“That’s not just it, you know,” Ohno says, his voice dropping a few octaves lower; he looks so serious all of a sudden and Nino cautiously blinks his worries away as Ohno holds his gaze steady.   
  
“Because I don’t only want you, Nino,” Ohno whispers in that soft, soft way that has Nino’s insides melting. “I realize now that it’s more than that.”   
  
“Oh-chan –“   
  
“There’s more,” Ohno says, pausing slightly to stroke Nino’s cheek tenderly, “and it scares me so for knowing that it is, because now I can no longer imagine living my life without you and that’s the thing because, what if you don’t feel the same way about me?”   
  
Nino blinks, unsure of what to say in the face of such heart-wrenching admission. So he doesn’t.    
  
He just does what he knows is best, pulling Ohno to him and hugging him, soaking in the warmth of Ohno’s skin pressed closely against Nino’s own.


	15. Chapter 15

Part 1

 

  
They ended up sleeping on the sofa. It was a tight fit but they managed to squeeze themselves together comfortably, like two complimenting pieces of a puzzle. Nino ended up curled half on top of him, fingers clutching the front of his shirt while one of his arms he lent to Nino to be used as a pillow. His other arm he simply draped around Nino’s waist, his nose pressed softly against Nino’s temple as they slept.   
  
It was a tight fit but Ohno liked the fact that it was comfortable, too. It certainly felt like they’ve done it several times instead of one, and Ohno liked that it didn’t feel awkward to sleep this close to Nino at all.   
  
When he woke up, his arm was numbed and his body cracked in fourteen different places when he moved, but that was okay. The pain was compensated with the way Nino had hummed his name when he stirred, lips finding Ohno’s chin for a morning kiss, anyway.   
  
“Good morning,” he whispers, reaching up to stroke Nino’s cheek, the tip of his nose, his brows. Nino hums and puckers his lips – god, he’s so cute - and Ohno gives in wholeheartedly, kissing Nino softly. Nino breaks away only so he could hide his face under Ohno’s chin, then nuzzles Ohno’s throat.   
  
“Morning,” Nino hums back, then proceeds to hide his face further into Ohno’s neck. Ohno gathers him in – it feels too good to have Nino in his arms like this – and tries not to think about the uncertainty he felt the night before they ended falling asleep, limbs thrown all over each other.    
  
It’s hard but he tries not to think about it too much. After all, it didn’t matter that Nino had said nothing after his very untimely confession; Nino made him feel like he did the right thing anyway by keeping close to him the whole night, lips pressing soft kisses to any patch of skin bared to him as if by doing so, Nino was telling him things he couldn’t say out loud, yet.    
  
And even then, even despite it all, Ohno really, really loves him for it.    
  
He loves Nino.    
  
And that in itself would have been entirely shocking – the road to realization wasn’t that easy, either – but somehow, knowing that he does love Nino after all beats all those stupid things he did in the past just to make Nino notice him. And while he thought it would be difficult to admit his feelings, it didn’t; somehow, having Nino near, seeing him laugh and smile and allowed Ohno close made it easier to conquer his fears.    
  
Nino’s rejection, when he’d received it the first time, honestly felt like a direct stab to the heart – painful, gut-wrenching - so he guessed it was just normal to be weary, cautious, because well, he’s certainly isn’t strong enough to experience it twice, the heartbreak and the rejection, especially if it’s from the same person.    
  
But then again, he realized that it really doesn’t matter so long as it is Nino.   
  
He shifts and Nino does, too, and he finds himself smiling despite it all. It’s completely amusing, but also kind of not, how they’re moving like magnets – one goes and the other one follows – and how it feels so wonderfully familiar despite the fact that this – the two of them together – is relatively new to begin with.    
  
“Did I wake you?” he asks as he runs his fingers through Nino’s hair, leans in closer to breathe him in.    
  
Nino shakes his head though he doesn’t say anything and just presses closer it makes Ohno wonder where he starts and where Nino ends with how tightly he’s holding Nino now. He doesn’t mind the non-existent distance though and holds Nino there, steady and careful.    
  
“Breakfast?” he asks after a beat; Nino very obviously giggles in answer. Well, it’s an entirely valid question, if he is going to be honest about it.    
  
Nino wriggles in his hold, squeezes his hip in silent plea to let him go. He does so without a word, but not entirely. He still keeps his arm over Nino’s waist, his hand curled possessively against the jut of Nino’s hip.    
  
“Coffee,” Nino says, smiling; “before anything else, please.”   
  
He laughs, giddy, over the fact that they have a lot of things in common. “Black?”   
  
Nino nods. “For the first cup,” Nino says, “my second, I want with –“   
  
“ – a dash of sugar?”   
  
Nino raises his head and gives him a look, brows arched. “How’d you know?”   
  
He grins, his insides warming at the idea of so many mornings shared like this, filled with coffee-scented kisses, laughter and more coffee.    
  
He leans in and rubs their noses together. “It’s just a hunch,” he says, fingering the side of Nino’s mouth, not bothering telling Nino he prefers his first and second cup served the same way as Nino’s.    
  
  
++   
  
  
He’s at the genkan, tying his shoes while Ohno stands idly by, leaning against the nearest wall with his arms crossed over his chest. It seems familiar, somehow, and Nino grins when he remembers the events the night before. How Ohno persuaded him to stay after dinner (which happened after their pre-dinner sex on the couch) and how he ended up agreeing to it despite his earlier reluctance.    
  
“Oh-chan, quit pouting, please,” he says, grinning despite himself. He feels pretty good this morning – he’s fully-caffeinated (the offered breakfast he really had to decline this time because if not, they’ll both end up late for work) and his lips still tingle from Ohno’s kisses.    
  
He’s probably also grinning like a crazy person but he doesn’t care much; everything feels wonderful and right now, that is all that matters.    
  
“I’m not –“   
  
Nino turns just in time to catch Ohno scowling; he grins and doesn’t hesitate in flinging his arms around Ohno’s neck, drawing him in.    
  
“Yes, you are,” he says, mouthing the words mostly against Ohno’s mouth; “stop it.”   
  
Ohno scowls even more. “I can’t help it,” Ohno says, arms worming around him; Nino likes it enough to press even closer. “And you’re not making it any easier, either.”   
  
“Why is that?” he dares, smirking; oh the joy of teasing someone like this knowing that he can away with it never gets dull, really. Nino likes it, and he likes that Ohno is allowing it.    
  
“You know why,”   
  
Nino grins and leans in for a quick kiss. Ohno grunts when Nino pulls away. “It was a valid reason, _Sir_ , and you know it,”   
  
“Told you not to call me that –“   
  
“ – and we’ll be late if I don’t go now, _Sir_.” He adds, just to be a jerk, though he doesn’t pull away. Ohno gives him a look, then decides he can’t win anyway so he just heaves a sigh, works his arms around Nino and lifts him up from the floor, mouth catching his for a searing kiss. Nino is all too willing to return the gesture, parting his mouth to let Ohno’s tongue in, sighing into the kiss before they break away.    
  
Ohno puts him down on his feet, careful, hands sliding down to his hips, holding him close, steady.    
  
“Fine,” Ohno says, and Nino has to kiss him again, just because he can. “If there’s anything, you’ll call me, right?”   
  
Nino nods, bumps his forehead against Ohno’s. “Of course,” he agrees, “I’ll see you in the office later?” he says, then takes a step backwards. Ohno’s body follows as if on instinct, and Nino smiles, can’t not.    
  
“Nah ah, you can’t do that to me again, Oh-chan,” he says, patting Ohno’s cheek. “I really have to go, like now. I’m serious.”   
  
Ohno bristles, then leans in for another kiss. Nino lets him, even kisses back just because he can and he wants to, before he pulls completely away, putting a restraining hand against Ohno’s chest when Ohno tries to follow.    
  
“No, stay right there or else we’ll end up staying here all day,” he says, laughing; Ohno gives him a look that says he’s considering it entirely and Nino rolls his eyes at him. “Seriously, get your mind off the gutter, Ohno-san, oh my god.”   
  
“But that’s –“   
  
“No,” Nino says as he heads towards the door.    
  
Ohno follows, his hands lightly brushing the small of Nino’s back. Nino feels it acutely, shivers at the warmth of Ohno’s touch seeping through the fabric of his shirt.    
  
“But if you think about it, we can actually –“   
  
Nino grins, reaching over, hand settling over the door knob. “No.”   
  
“But Nino, I’m the boss, so that means I can –“   
  
“Yes, but I’m not, so that means I can’t,” Nino cuts in, giggling quietly. He turns before he opens the door, finds Ohno pouting like a kid. Nino can’t, for the life of him, help himself from kissing his pouting mouth. He just can’t; it’s so hard, so he just gives in to the urge wholeheartedly.    
  
“I’ll see you later, I promise,” he says, squeezing Ohno’s hip. “and no, we’re not skipping work no matter what you say.”   
  
Ohno looks resigned, at least until Nino tells him, “And then much later, you can take me home again, how’s that?”    
  
“Really?”   
  
Nino winks. “Sure.”   
  
“Shall we order in again?” Ohno asks, eyes turning a shade darker, his lips curling into a wicked grin. Nino’s insides clench in answer, chest heaving at the quiet promises brimming brightly behind Ohno’s eyes.    
  
Nino wonders yet again how easy it all is with Ohno, and why he’s not even the slightest bit worried that they might be going about this too fast. He can’t, not when being with Ohno is as comfortable as breathing, familiar, _right_.    
  
“We might as well,” he returns, keeping his voice deliberately low as he opens the door.    
  
If Ohno says anything, he ignores it, grinning as he skips towards the main gate where Okada-san is waiting, humming a tune he only thought about this morning while he and Ohno were having coffee under his breath.   
  
  
  
++   
  
  
“I’ll see you in the office later, Okada-san,” Nino says, bowing low; Okada returns it with a slight tilt of his head, and smiles as he drives away. Nino turns, tries to wipe the grin off his face imagining meeting Ohno in the office later  – god, he must look ridiculous – and failing.    
  
He heads towards the door of his apartment, still humming that tune under his breath, keys already in hand, then stop.   
  
_ No, it’s not possible. _   
  
His fingers are shaking around his keys but he doesn’t let it deter him; he turns, his breath caught in his throat the second his gaze settles on the familiar figure standing right from across him.   
  
“Yo, Kazu.”

 

 


	16. Chapter 16

Sho enters the room, bows, and says, in a quiet voice, “He’s not here yet,” and Ohno thinks – no, he’s certain – that he’s gone temporarily deaf upon hearing it.  
  
Something in his chest rattles painfully he could barely breathe through it.  
  
“What do you mean he’s not here yet?” he counters so quickly that he had no chance to regulate his tone, realizes he is so close to yelling when Sho stumbles, in shock, the second the words are out of his mouth, blinking at Ohno as if he’s wondering what he’s done.  
  
Ohno feels like hitting himself repeatedly in the head for losing his cool, and god, what does that even make him?   
  
“Sorry, Sho-kun,” he apologizes, bowing his head a little and honestly meaning it.   
  
Sho seems to recover himself quickly. He takes three tentative steps forward, puts the file folder he has in his hand down on Ohno’s table with a deep suffering sigh.   
  
Ohno knows he should be embarrassed about how he’s acting like a crazy boyfriend but he can’t think about that now. He’s so worried, and it’s not to say that it started way before he reached the office an hour ago, when he was trying to contact Nino and he couldn’t, because Nino’s phone was off.  
  
And it still is, up until now.   
“Don’t worry about it,” Sho says, though he sounded more than a little concerned. Ohno can’t exactly blame him. It’s certainly a little worrying witnessing one’s boss while he acts like a total psychopath just because one of his (admittedly favorite) employees is late.  
  
“Well, anyway, I’ve asked the guys outside, just in case they know something,” Sho says, “turned out Ninomiya-san texted Aiba-san an hour and a half ago to tell him he’ll be late.”  
  
“Did he tell him why?”   
  
Sho shakes his head. “Just that he will be late, nothing else.” Sho says.   
  
Ohno frowns; that doesn’t really answer his question, and that definitely doesn’t make the uneasy feeling go away. He’s afraid something bad has happened to Nino, because it’s not like him to be late for work and then turn his phone off at the same time.  
  
Still reeling at the uneasiness curling at the pit of his stomach, he turns to the only other person who saw Nino last.   
  
“Okada, are you sure Nino got home safely? I mean, you didn’t see anything weird when you dropped him off, right?”  
  
“Yes, Sir, I’m sure. I dropped him off at the very front of his apartment so –“ Okada says, then pauses. Ohno watches him closely, just to be sure.  
  
Okada is frowning, opens his mouth to say something then snaps it close again. Ohno finds it too unnerving to watch, stomach lurching when Okada’s expression changes drastically as he clearly remembers something.  
  
“W-What is it?”  
  
Okada blinks. “I – I’m not sure, Sir, but –“ Okada pauses, frowns, then licks his lips as if he can’t decide whether what he’s thinking is worth telling Ohno about but Ohno is beyond caring.   
  
He knows – he can feel it down to his bones that something has happened, and that he’s not just imagining it.  
  
He takes the few deciding steps towards Okada, hands finding Okada’s shoulders to hold on to, shaking the other man for good measure.  
  
“Tell me,”  
  
Okada meets his eyes with a frown. “I think…t-there’s a guy…I mean, I thought he looked familiar,” Okada pauses here, and Ohno swears he never wishes to know what’s going on inside someone’s head the way he does that very second as he waits for Okada to re-arrange his thoughts enough to tell Ohno what he saw.  
  
“What do you mean? What guy?”  
  
“The guy standing there, Sir,” Okada says, looking thoughtful, worried even.  “he was already there when I dropped Ninomiya-san off. I thought -  I knew I saw him before, but I just couldn’t remember when or where. Now I think I do,”  
  
Ohno is going to die of suspense, he’s sure of it.   
  
“And?”  
  
“He looked familiar because I saw that guy before. In fact, I’ve been seeing him for about three days in a row now,” Okada says, “loitering outside our office. I thought it was weird but -” Okada follows, but Ohno is no longer listening. He is turning around and spouting commands to Sho before Sho even manages to blink.   
  
“I want those security cameras checked, Sho-kun,” he says, raising his hand and checking his phone once again, dialing Nino’s number and getting the same automated reply. It takes him all of his reserved patience not to end up throwing his phone against the nearest wall in frustration.   
  
“Now.”  
  
Sho bows, slight and quick, and is out the door faster than he entered it minutes before.  
  
  
++  
  
His coffee remains untouched – Nino knows it’s gotten cold but it doesn’t matter when he has no intention of drinking it anyway.   
  
Opposite him, Toma continues talking animatedly about work, about everything he thinks Nino missed since he left Singapore as if they matter, pretending not to notice Nino’s obvious uneasiness. Nino tries not to think about the fact that he’s over an hour late from work, and instead focuses on the more important and honestly worrying fact that sitting here, now, his heart beating a mile a minute, with his ex-boyfriend talking and smiling as if everything’s normal, Nino realized he’s terrified.  
  
Nino doesn’t want to think about it, at least not more than he already does, but it’s difficult; not when Toma looks and smells like he hasn’t bathe in days, his eyes uncharacteristically bright as he recounts events after events from the time Nino left. Nino wishes he could pay attention, but it’s hard when all he wants is to reach over and grab his phone so he could make a run for it as soon as he possibly can.  
  
Sadly, he can’t do that. Not when the very first thing Toma did when the other man steered him towards the direction of this café when Nino refused to invite him over his apartment (despite Toma’s initial suggestion they talk in private whilst pointing at Nino’s apartment door) was to take his phone hostage, shutting it off immediately after they sat down.  
  
“So, Samii-jima Hotels, huh?” Toma says, and it’s only then Nino realizes that Toma is already talking about something else and he’s no longer smiling.   
  
Nino frowns and tries not to let Toma see he’s rattled, though it can’t be helped; he doesn’t remember ever telling Toma where he is working, where his apartment is and most especially his new contact number, after all.  
  
Apparently, Toma is able to acquire information for all without even batting an eyelid, and if that’s not enough to worry Nino, he doesn’t know what else is.  
  
  
“Sorry?” he says, tries to act like he doesn’t know what Toma is talking about. Toma grins – he does look scary now – and does something that makes Nino flinch. Toma reaches over to touch his chin – the other man likes doing it even then, sliding his fingertips across the beauty mark there – and Nino jerks away on instinct.  
  
Toma’s expression hardens, his hand remains suspended in mid-air; Nino’s stomach is in knots, and he is only vaguely thankful that they’re in a public place, where he can always call on someone’s attention for help if things get messy.  
  
Thankfully, Toma seems to catch himself halfway, laughing as he takes his hand back.   
  
“You think I don’t know?” Toma says, chuckling mirthlessly.  
  
He swallows hard, steeling himself. “I’m not sure what you’re going on about, really.” He says, hoping his voice isn’t shaking as much as the rest of him is. “If you’re only here to say hello, or to check if I’m still alive or something, I’m think we’re done here. As you can see, I’m still –“  
  
“Changing the subject, I see,” Toma cuts in, eyes sharp. “You always do that when you don’t know how to answer the question.”  
  
Nino’s heart feels like it is well on his way out his ribcage, what with how hard it is pounding hard inside his chest.   
  
“Toma-kun, I really don’t know what to say to you,” he says, cautiously noting the way Toma’s facial expression hardens even more. “Honestly, I don’t even think we have things to talk about still. We’re…w-we’re over long before I left Singapore. You do know that, don’t you?”  
  
Toma looks so serious all of a sudden, crossing his arms over his chest as he gazes directly at Nino.   
  
“You decide that all by yourself,” Toma says, “I didn’t.”  
  
Crap. “Toma-kun, please, this isn’t –“  
  
“Is it because of that guy?” Toma counters, cutting him off quickly, his eyes and tone icy it’s honestly terrifying.   
  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about –“  
  
“It’s because of the money, isn’t it?” Toma asks, “Answer me, goddamnit!” Toma half-yells, slapping the tabletop with his palm, the action startling everyone in the shop. Nino feels like his heart has just jumped up to his throat.   
  
“Toma, stop it, you’re making a scene,” he breathes, slow and careful, eyes darting between Toma’s face and Nino’s phone sitting idly on the table. He reminds himself he needs to be calm, for his sake more than anything. “Can we just…can we just do this some other time, please? I’m late for work already.” He says, standing up.  
  
Toma’s hand catches him around the wrist, tugging him down before he even managed to stand all the way up.   
  
“Sit. The. Fuck. Down. Kazu,” Toma says, through tightly gritted teeth, “You’re not going anywhere until I tell you you can, you hear me?”  
  
“Toma, please, I –“ he says, and this time, he knows he’s considering begging the other man just to let him go. He doesn’t want to make a scene but if worse comes to worse…  
  
“Nino, what the fuck is going on?”

 

++

 

Part 2

 

Sho watches Ohno through the mirror, unsure of what to say.    
  
“Okada, can’t you drive any faster?!” Ohno asks, brows furrowed and his lips curled into a scowl.   
  
Okada barely flinches, and it’s a testament to how long they’ve known Ohno that neither of them are taking Ohno’s obvious rage personally. Okada simply tilts his head in answer, though he doesn’t say anything.   
  
“God, what if something bad has happened to him? What am I going to do?” Ohno mutters, voice loud enough to be heard. Sho swallows hard and meets Okada’s gaze through the mirror, nodding his head and wishing there’s something else to be done.   
  
Sadly, all they could do at this point is to make sure their suspicion is wrong, and that Ninomiya isn’t in any kind of danger.   
  
Sho turns, his heart going out to Ohno as Ohno’s gaze darts between the window and his phone clasped in his palm.   
  
“Quit thinking that, Satoshi-kun,” he says, hoping he at least sounded convincing, even if he doesn’t feel the least bit like it. “you’re not making it any easier for you if you keep on thinking that something bad has happened to Ninomiya-san.”   
  
Ohno says nothing and simply ducks his head, but Sho spies the shadow of something that looked obviously like fear passed through his eyes, his fingers shaking around his phone.   
  
  
++   
  
Sho keeps his phone clasped in his hands just to be safe, as he and Ohno both jump out from the car the second Okada parks it in front of Ninomiya’s apartment.    
  
Ohno is already by the door, pressing the bell and knocking, loud and insistent, while he’s calling Ninomiya’s name. Sho follows suit – it’s obvious no one’s home, judging with how loudly Ohno is banging on the door now and no one has yet to come out or even answer– and pauses when his phone vibrates in his hand.   
  
He barely glances at it before he is slapping it against his left ear. “Hello?”    
  
The person on the other end grumbles something that resembles Ohno’s name and something else, and Sho realizes he is crossing the short distance between him and Ohno, grasping Ohno’s shoulder tight enough to make the other man wince.   
  
“What –“   
  
“Let’s go!” he says, ending the call and pocketing his phone. “I know where Ninomiya-san is! Come on, we have to go!”   
  
++   
  
Nino whips around and finds himself staring into a familiar face, his fear slowly being shrouded with confusion.   
  
“What the hell is happening here?” the man rounds the way to their table, his perfectly groomed eyebrows knitted together. Nino is torn between being surprised and grateful, unsure whether it’s safe enough to wriggle away from Toma’s hold, wincing when Toma’s fingers tighten marginally around his wrist before Nino can even pull away.   
  
“M-Matsumoto-san –“ Nino starts, words halting when Matsumoto Jun sidles next to him and roughly tugging Nino’s hand away from Toma’s grip. Toma stands – Nino realizes he and Matsumoto is almost of the same height – finger still wrapped around Nino’s wrist.   
  
“Stay Gold’s Matsumoto Jun,” Toma says, not even bothering sparing Nino a glance, grinning like a psychopath as he sizes Matsumoto up. “why, Kazu, aren’t you amazing? It’s not enough that you’re fucking that stupid Samii-jima President, you need to fuck–“   
  
“I suggest you to think about your life or your honestly pretty face before you go and finish that sentence, dude,” Matsumoto says, “because I’m telling you, I’m not going to be held responsible for breaking your jaw right here, right now, if I hear something inappropriate.”   
  
Nino stills, watching Toma’s face hardens in answer. “Unhand him right now and leave this place while I’m giving you the chance.” Matsumoto follows, brows arching.    
  
“Really? And what if I don’t? Are you threatening me? Right here? In a public place? You’ve got to be kidding me.” Toma asks, smiling frighteningly with too much teeth, tugging Nino’s hand roughly and making Nino wince the second Nino’s chest ends up bumping against the table’s edge.    
  
“Toma-kun, please –“   
  
“Shut up! You think I give a rat’s ass about you and your boyfriends?! I don’t care if they own the whole of Japan, I don’t care if you’re fucking both of them, I don’t –“   
  
“Oh, that’s it, bastard! Come here, you –“ Jun hisses, leaning down to grab Toma by the collar of his shirt, tugging him up from his seat. Then he is aiming his fist, expression terrifying, but stopped short the second a hand fly to grab Jun’s elbow, halting his movements entirely.   
  
“What –“   
  
“Matsumoto-san –“   
  
“Oh, you’re here already –“   
  
“Step aside, Gold-face,” Ohno says, tugging Jun away; Nino is both relieved and surprised to find Ohno there, opening his mouth to say something but closing it again the second Ohno swings his hand and hits Toma square in the face.   
  
  
++   
  
  
“Samii-kun, aren’t you going to thank me at least?” Matsumoto calls out as he finds Nino’s wrist and tugs him up on his feet. His fist stings but it couldn’t compare to the way his chest is pounding painfully hard, his whole body shaking with adrenaline.   
  
Okada took over the job as soon as the person Ohno just punched in the face was on the floor and cursing, barely paying attention to the way Okada has just put the person in leg-lock before he could flee.    
  
Next to him, Sho bows at Matsumoto gratefully. “Matsumoto-san,”   
  
Matsumoto grins, holding out his hand for Sho to take. Sho takes it gingerly, smiling awkwardly to Ohno’s direction. Ohno pays them no mind as he takes in Nino’s presence, hands on either side of Nino’s arms.    
  
“You okay?” he asks, voice barely higher than a whisper; he can still feel his heart thudding hard in his chest, can feel his blood pounding inexplicably loud in his ears.    
  
Nino nods, mutely. “Are you sure? You’re not hurt anywhere?” he follows; Nino shakes his head in confirmation.    
  
“I’m sure he’s fine,” Matsumoto says, eyes on Sho’s face. Ohno gives him a look, darting his eyes between Matsumoto’s irritatingly pretty face and his hand rubbing Sho’s palm. “I’ve been watching them since they came; I only came over them when I saw that jerk reached out to grab Nino.”   
  
He whips around, scowling. “That’s Ninomiya-san for you, asshole.”   
  
“Woah there!” Matsumoto exclaims, looking seriously entertained. Ohno finds himself scowling some more as he tugs Nino to him. “Possessive, aren’t you?”   
  
“Thank you, Matsumoto-san,” Sho says quickly, hands finding Matsumoto’s sleeves to tug him away. “Really. For watching over Ninomiya-san and for calling us out immediately,”   
  
Matsumoto grins and throws Ohno a wink before he lets Sho take him away. “Sure, Sho-san.” Matsumoto agrees, Ohno barely hearing him following it with, “So this means you guys owe me another one –“ ignoring him entirely as he pulls Nino to him into a quick hug before he guides Nino out the nearest exit.   
  
  
++   
  
They’re in the car when Nino realizes something is wrong.   
  
Ohno is sitting too far away, his attention on the road outside. Their hands are tangled on top of Ohno’s lap, their fingers woven together tightly, but even that isn’t enough to make the painful twisting in his gut go away.    
  
Ohno isn’t talking and he’s not looking towards Nino’s direction either. Nino wonders what he’s done wrong – he’s certain he didn’t do anything to anger Ohno – but even he isn’t sure.    
  
He tries to tug his hand away and the gesture seems to wake Ohno up from whatever deep thought he’s in, letting Nino’s hand go. The twisting in Nino’s gut worsens.    
  
“O-Ohno-san, is there… Is there something wrong?” he asks; he could no longer take it anymore, the silence, and another minute of it is sure to drive Nino insane.    
  
Ohno doesn’t say anything but he does seem to shake himself out of daze.    
  
“Please talk to me,” Nino finds himself saying, shocked at the way his voice shakes at the syllables. “If there’s… If I did something wrong, please tell me –“   
  
Ohno turns to him then, expression dark and eyes wildly unfocused Nino finds himself reeling at the sight of it.   
  
“That _guy,_ ” Ohno says, his tone serious and his eyes lidded heavily Nino finds it difficult to look away. “are you still in love with him?”

 


	17. Chapter 17

“You better not tell me your boss told you to do this or I’m seriously going to be pissed,” Matsumoto grumbles, cupping his face carefully and backing him firmly against the stall’s wall.   
  
Sho fears whatever he says will only make him look like an idiot so he doesn’t bother. Being here, surrounded by Matsumoto’s scent is enough for Sho to forget who he is and who this person leaning in forward to bring their mouths together.   
  
He feels trapped, he feels wanted, and it’s a heady feeling that makes Sho break into sweat as he adjusts his position against the wall, tilts his head and parts his mouth to let Matsumoto’s tongue in. Matsumoto groans into his mouth, hips grinding into his own in a way that makes the hunger in Sho’s stomach grows.   
  
“Tell me, Sho-san,” Matsumoto hisses when he pulls away, dragging his tongue across Sho’s jaw and effectively drawing a sound of pleasure from deep within Sho’s throat.   
  
“No,” he answers, branding his arms around Matsumoto’s biceps to pull him in, bracketing his arms around the taller man as he leans up for another kiss. “No, he didn’t.”  
  
Matsumoto grins, boyish and wicked, and it’s all Sho could do not to tug Matsumoto’s face down quickly to get what he needs.   
  
He doesn’t have to anyway; Matsumoto’s lips is quickly there to scratch Sho’s itch for him, eating his mouth with such force that has Sho shaking without him realizing it.  
  
  
++  
  
  
Nino wonders about the time he spent away from Ohno, unwantedly, and his heart aches.   
  
“I…d-don’t know what you want me to say,” Nino mumbles. It’s not to say that he’s still reeling at the aftermath of the events prior to Ohno finding him, because he is – he can still feel his whole body trembling with the remnants of the adrenaline pumping through his veins during the next few minutes of Ohno’s arrival - and somehow, thinking that despite that, despite of everything they’ve been through, just seeing him with another man is enough to make Ohno doubt him and his feelings.  
  
The question, if Nino is going to be completely honest about it, surprised him. To think that Ohno has no idea who Toma is (Nino is certain that the topic about his crazy ex-boyfriend came up just once or twice during his first few conversations with Ohno, but even then, he’s not entirely sure; and even if the topic really did come up then, Nino is certain it was never fully discussed) and who he is – was – in Nino’s life.   
  
It shouldn’t really upset him that Ohno had somewhat assumed the worst about the situation at first glance– seeing Nino with Toma when Nino promised he’d meet Ohno in the office, when he’d probably calling Nino nonstop but couldn’t contact him because his phone was off - putting two and two together and thus coming up with that stupid question without even bothering asking Nino first. Nino supposed he should be okay with it – Ohno has no idea who this crazy guy he found having coffee with Nino when he supposed Nino was in danger, after all - but can’t exactly help it if he ended pissed instead.  
  
Ohno’s assuming Nino is still in love with Toma when it’s rather obvious, what with how Ohno found him shaking and looking like a cornered cat in front of Toma earlier, that he despises Toma’s presence more than he would dared to admit.   
  
Nino honestly doesn’t understand how Ohno’s mind works, how low he thinks Nino is for agreeing to date him when he himself is thinking that Nino is still in love with someone else.   
  
It’s difficult to wrap his mind around the fact that it all boils down to the fact that Ohno thinks he’s two-timing him with Toma, and that’s – that’s the thing he can’t stand. He likes Ohno too much, that it’s tearing him into pieces knowing that Ohno doesn’t trust him.   
  
He feels his heart breaks when Ohno subtly moves away, turning his gaze back outside the window as if he’s not even expecting hearing Nino’s answer.  
  
  
++  
  
The café’s bathroom stall is probably the last place Sho has imagined backing Matsumoto into, wheezing as his fingers work on Matsumoto’s zipper.  
  
“Hurry, hurry, Sho-san,” Matsumoto grunts, and Sho feels those dexterous fingers running through his hair to urge him on. He’s helpless in the face of such request, gasping at the feel of Matsumoto’s hard-on pressing against the heel of his palm when he rolls it against the hard length through the fabric.   
  
His own is painful inside his pants but he ignores it in favor of sliding his fingers into the garters of Matsumoto’s boxers, finding the head of Matsumoto’s dick already slick at the tip. He swipes his thumb across it, wheezes at the way it makes Matsumoto’s hand tighten around the back of his head.   
  
“Keep quiet,” he says, nuzzling the front of Matsumoto’s pants and humming; his throat is dry and his lips even more so, grunting wordlessly as he pushes his nose against the cock throbbing in his hand.   
  
“Oh please, please –“ Matsumoto groans, pushing his hips and bending his knees, Sho wrapping his hand around the base of Matsumoto’s cock and guiding it in between his waiting lips.  
  
++  
  
Ohno feels honestly like an idiot.  
  
He gets out of the car at the same time Okada parked it in front of his house, heart torn between waiting Nino out and running. He feels like crying but he also feels like hitting himself hard in the face for acting like a possessive girlfriend and he swears the conflicting emotions is driving him fucking crazy.  
  
“Ohno-san, wait,” Nino calls, and Ohno’s heart hurt at the sound of his voice. He turns, and for a second, he wishes he didn’t.  
  
“Aren’t you coming?” he asks, not meeting Nino’s eyes.   
  
Instead, he shifts his gaze somewhere else, to Nino’s fingers gripping the door’s handle, worried at the way Nino’s knuckles are white. “I… think I should go.” Nino says, lowering his gaze to the ground.  
  
Ohno’s heart takes a dangerous leap up to his throat and he freezes. He’s rooted on the spot, unable to say anything, the doubt and the fear slowly being replaced with something so ugly and equally-painful.  
  
He turns his back and wills himself not to shake when he says, “Do whatever you want,” and walks away.  
 

++

 

Okada, for the most part, is shocked at this awfully surprising turn of events.   
  
Ohno walks away, back straight and his shoulders stiff, giving nothing away as he reaches the door, unlocks it and lets himself in. Behind him, Ninomiya stays deathly still, quiet, his fingers loosening their hold around the car door’s handle before he lets his hand dropped on his lap.   
  
Okada watches, heart breaking for Ninomiya as he examines him through the mirror, unsure of what to say. He can’t be certain how things ended up like this – he is sure the two lovers were okay when they boarded the car minutes after the café incident - but he has an inkling it is once again his employer’s fault that things turned rather sour for him and his new boyfriend.    
  
To be honest, Okada feels entirely justified for wanting to kick the crap out of his boss if it means smacking some sense into him, make him realize how damn stupid he is for thinking the worst out of Ninomiya.   
  
“N-Ninomiya-san, is there something you need me to do for you?” he asks, soft and hesitant, watching the way Ninomiya’s face crumple for a moment as he ducks his head, chin quivering. Ninomiya shakes his head, and Okada gravely watches the way Ninomiya tries swallowing his emotions down, his eyes wet when he raises his head to meet Okada’s own.   
  
Ninomiya pushes the door quietly and lets himself out, forcing a smile that only made him look rather pitiful.   
  
“It’s okay, Okada-san,” Ninomiya says, looking and sounding so different from the man Okada had driven home this morning. “I – thank you. For everything. Please just tell the President I’ll be taking my leave now.” Ninomiya says, bowing his head in thanks.   
  
Ninomiya turns and stars walking even before Okada could think of calling him to ask if he could just drive him home. He sighs, darting his gaze between the door Ohno disappeared into and Ninomiya’s retreating back, heart heavy in his chest as he grabs his phone to call the only other person who could fix this mess the only he knows how.   
  
  
  
++   
  
  
Sho hasn’t even tucked himself back into his pants when both he and Matsumoto startle at the feel of something vibrating near the vicinity of his cock.   
  
Sho groans and pushes himself away from Matsumoto with a little bit of difficulty. Matsumoto lets him, but only as far as he could move his hand around to find his phone, just big enough space to move without him accidentally elbowing Matsumoto in the crotch.   
  
“Sho-san, your dick is ringing,” Matsumoto chuckles, running his clever fingers through Sho’s hair as Sho fishes around his pocket for his phone. Sho grunts and pulls away, half-dazed, watching Matsumoto’s fingers work on tucking himself back inside his pants before lowering his head to inspect the front of his pants.    
  
There’s a visible patch of wetness there that caught Matsumoto’s attention. “Hmm,” Matsumoto hums, giving Sho a look as Sho pulls himself upright on shaky legs. “I think you missed a drop.”   
  
Sho cringes; he knows he’s blushing like a teenage girl and it doesn’t help that Matsumoto is acting like he’s fully enjoying it. He clears his throat as quietly as he dares – his embarrassment creeping up on him faster than he would have realized it – and whips out to check his phone, which is still ringing miraculously.   
  
It’s Okada.   
  
“Is it Samii-kun? What, don’t tell me he already misses –“ Matsumoto asks, words halting into a stop when Sho holds up his hand to silence him.    
  
“Yes, Okada-san, I’m on my way, is there something– _what?_ ” Sho frowns, and lets Okada talk. He feels a headache coming as he absently reaches up to massage his throbbing temple. When Okada is done, Sho ends the call and pockets his phone, wills himself to stand up despite his shaking legs.    
  
Matsumoto reaches out to grab him by the shoulder. “Sho-san, what’s wrong?”   
  
Sho blinks, wonders if it’s appropriate to share his employer’s, err, relationship troubles with someone whom he dislikes with a vengeance but he figures Ohno can just suck it up. After all, Matsumoto always ends up getting himself involved in Ohno’s affair no matter how much he or Ohno try to avoid it.   
  
“That was Okada-san,” Sho says, his fingers absently finding Matsumoto’s forearms to hold on to. “something terrible has happened between Ohno-san and Ninomiya-san so I – he said he needs me to come and help–“   
  
“Fix it?” Matsumoto says, cutting Sho off. “Sho-san, you’re Samii-kun’s assistant, not his mother nor his relationship adviser. If he fucks it up with Ninomiya-san, that’s his problem, not yours. It’s not your job to straighten everything out for him–“ Matsumoto says, then pauses, eyes wide as his gaze settle on Sho’s, at the determined line sets at the corners of Sho’s lips.    
  
“Or is it?”   
  
Sho lowers his gaze to the ground. “You don’t understand, Matsumoto-san,” he says, his tone soft though firm. “Satoshi – I mean, Ohno-san is my friend, above anything else. And he’s not – he’s not very familiar with this kind of things so it’s my job, as a friend, to help him realize what he’s doing wrong if he’s doing it wrong, which obviously, he is, guide him towards the right direction, if I could.”   
  
It’s silent after that; Sho wills himself not to feel overly embarrassed for saying the things he’d said as he bows his head and prepares to leave. That is, until Matsumoto manfully pulls him for a hug and huffs a laugh into his temple.    
  
Then Matsumoto leans down to plant an even softer kiss to the side of Sho’s neck, and murmurs, “Fine,” the taller man says, hand brushing soft touches across the small of Sho’s back. “Fine, if that’s how it is. So, tell me what’s the problem and how can I help?”   
  
Sho grins and lets himself be pulled into the cradle of Matsumoto’s embrace, breathing in the wonderful scent of him as much as he could.    
  
“Sure, but can we do it somewhere else? To be honest, I don’t think the bathroom stall is a proper enough place to be having this conversation.” He asks.    
  
“Ah, you’re right, you’re right. I’m sorry. Come, my car is still out front. Let’s go grab some coffee first and then I’ll drive you to where you need to go, then you can tell me all about this love troubles on our way there, deal?”   
  
Sho grins, feeling quite good about himself right now, despite knowing it might all turn sour once they reached Ohno’s home. Then again, he could just enjoy this for now and let those troubles come at him later.   
  
“Yes, please,” he agrees, taking Matsumoto’s offered hand, keeping his head ducked low as they let themselves out of the stall.   
  
++   
  
Nino flags the first cab he sees.   
  
He’s seated comfortably at the back when he realized he’s shaking, hating himself – and honestly, Ohno, too – for making him feel like this, like someone weak. He knows he’s seconds away from crying – he’s frustrated and hurt and scared – and the last thing he expected is to be accused of something he’d never, not even in his weaker moments, ever think of doing, to be treated like he did something wrong when it is honestly the opposite.    
  
It hurts when all he wanted is to curl himself into a ball next to Ohno, bury his face into the crook of Ohno’s neck and allow Ohno’s soothing touches calm his frayed nerves down after all the crap he went through that morning, but couldn’t, because his boyfriend is a certified jackass.   
  
And what frustrates Nino most is the realization that he has once again, undoubtedly, fell in love with an idiot.   
  
And that’s probably what made it worse. He realized he’s in love with Ohno – was all but ready to confess his feelings now that he’s seen Toma in person and realized there’s no one else for him but Ohno – until this crap happened.    
  
Somehow, it made perfect sense why he hadn’t confessed yet; why that cautious part of him stayed vigilant, why it didn’t allow him the stupidity of saying the words he would only end up regretting later, because he eventually would.    
  
He could still remember the cold and distant look on Ohno’s face when he asked Nino that question, making Nino feel bad about himself despite knowing he hadn’t done anything wrong. It made him want to question his own reasons for being there with Ohno, his feelings for Ohno and why he’d decided he was the one for him, and somehow, it had hurt in the most unexpected ways knowing that the person he expected to stay by him had obviously been doubting him and his intentions when there’s no reason for him to be.   
  
Ohno could have asked him so many questions and Nino would have readily answered them – who is Toma and why was Nino with him, who is he in Nino’s life and why he appeared all of a sudden, almost out of nowhere – but he didn’t. Instead, he asked that one question that holds no significance to the incident whatsoever, to the entire situation even, and Nino feels entirely like he’d been slapped hard in the face upon hearing it.   
  
Ohno disappoints him, and that’s – that’s the thing Nino couldn’t stand.    
  
It’s going to be so difficult from here on, and Nino decides he’s not strong enough to carry on with all these bullshit, despite what everyone thinks.   
  
He takes his phone and sets about talking to the one person in the office that he knows will understand, mentally wishing he’s not about to make the biggest mistake of his life by deciding on this now that he’s hurting.   
  
But it’s this or allow Ohno to hurt him more than he already has, and Nino’s not about to stand for that.    
  
He dials the number when he finds it and slaps the phone against his left ear, heart twisting at the sound of a familiar breathy voice answering after two rings.   
  
“Aiba-chan,” he says, voice quivering. “It’s me. Listen, I need your help, can we meet?”   
  
Aiba answers a hurried _Yes_ , and Nino breathes gratefully, tells Aiba where to meet him before he ends the call.   
  
  
++   
  
Somehow, it wasn’t all that difficult to figure out what exactly happened between those two.    
  
From what he’d gathered from Okada’s disjointed story regarding their boss and his boyfriend, it seemed like Ohno has wrongfully accused Nino of cheating (typical of him, to be honest) and Ninomiya, not knowing exactly that his newly-found boyfriend has the tendency to act like a possessive teenage boy with a crush, ended up hurt by it and walked away without another word.    
  
Sho told Matsumoto this on their drive back to Ohno’s house and Matsumoto simply huffed like it’s not that big of a deal.    
  
Sho couldn’t decide whether to applause him or punch him.    
  
“Well, can you blame him?” Sho says around an ugly grimace. “I mean, Ninomiya-san promised to meet Ohno-san in the office before he went home this morning, and then he sort-of ended up not coming to work at all. Then imagine the horror Ohno-san went through when Okada-san told him there was someone waiting for Ninomiya-san at his apartment, and that he looked somewhat familiar. He realized it was the same person lingering outside our office for days now. So of course, Ohno-san ordered us to check the security cameras and indeed found the guy, vouched by Okada-san to be the same guy waiting outside Ninomiya-san’s house, said he looked rather creepy. Imagine how scared Ohno-san was during the whole ride to Ninomiya-san’s apartment, only to find out his apartment is empty. That was when we received your call.” Sho says without a pause, then. “Then imagine what Ohno-san felt when he later on found his boyfriend sitting cozily in that café you told us you found Ninomiya-san, having coffee with a guy Ohno-san only found out later on was actually his boyfriend’s ex.”   
  
Matsumoto looks more than a little surprised hearing this. “You mean, you guys didn’t know?”   
  
It is Sho’s turn to throw Matsumoto a surprised, “Huh? About what?”   
  
“That that creep is actually Ninomiya-san’s ex-boyfriend. You actually didn’t know?”   
  
Sho blinks. “Matsumoto-san, it’s not in our policy to interview job seekers or new employees about their personal lives. That’s their business, not the company’s.”   
  
Matsumoto just ignores the obvious jibe in his tone. Sho realized he’s good at it.    
  
“But since your boss is dating Ninomiya-san, sure he would have known it, right? Or if not that, then at least the very reason Ninomiya-san left his previous job in Singapore - which I might say, was a damn good one compared to the job Samii-kun offered him here – which was because of that creepy ex of his.” Matsumoto asks, and when Sho doesn’t answer, he shakes his head in disbelief.   
  
“No? Seriously?” Matsumoto exclaims, half-laughing, amused. “Jesus fucking Christ, this is hilarious.” Matsumoto says, “I mean, why did you think I ended up following them when I saw them entering the café? It’s because I know who that guy is. I remembered who he was so I knew he was that guy who almost drove Ninomiya-san nuts.”    
  
Sho dares himself not to say anything inappropriate to the person he just spent sucking the brains out through his dick just minutes before and sets about asking him what he actually means instead.    
  
Matsumoto chuckles, his mirth palpable. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound like I know everything there is to know about someone else’s boyfriends but it just so happened that I’ve wanted to hire Ninomiya-san eversince I met him in Singapore a year ago, so its like, how should I put it, I've paid extra attention to him when I was with him. We went out for a few drinks a couple of months later when I visited the country again, and that was where I first met his crazy ex-boyfriend. He told me he was planning on going home and I told him that if he ever finds himself back in Japan, he should contact me and I’ll be very happy to give him a job. I only found out later on that he ended up getting head-hunted by Samii-kun a couple of weeks after we last met.”   
  
Sho couldn’t say anything. He found himself over-loaded with information he’s not sure what to do about.    
  
“So, you know, just tell Samii-kun he’s made a crapload of mistake for thinking Ninomiya-san is still involved with that man because he’s not, not anymore. Their relationship was over and done with even before Ninomiya-san left Singapore.”   
  
Sho thinks about this carefully, very carefully, and smiles. It’s not to say that it’s going to be easy, not even when he has this information ready when he talked to Ohno, because judging with how stubborn Ohno is, it will be difficult to persuade him to change his mind about something when he already decided about it.   
  
Sho just hopes this is not the case this time, because as much as he hates seeing Ohno in pain, it’s not to say that he feels entirely justified to punch Ohno repeatedly in the face knowing that he actually deserves it.    
  
And this time, it’s obvious that Ohno’s just toed the line.    
  
“I’m not sure what happened but I can only guess,” he says, shaking his head. “But if that’s exactly what drove Ninomiya-san to leave, then –“ he adds, then pauses when Matsumoto’s phone rings, prompting Sho to stop talking.   
  
Matsumoto picks it up, frowns, darting his gaze between the road and his phone before he decides to answer it. He puts in on speaker and motions for Sho to be quiet.   
  
“Hello?”    
  
When a familiar voice answers, Sho gasps, shocked. Matsumoto hushes him.   
  
_ “Matsumoto-san, this is Ninomiya, are you free to talk?” _ Ninomiya asks.    
  
Matsumoto frowns but his voice remains light and teasing when he answers. “Of course, I’m always free! To whom do I owe the pleasure of this call? Is it Samii-kun?” Matsumoto teases.    
  
A few seconds of silence passed before Ninomiya speaks, and when he does, Sho is certain he just went temporarily deaf.   
  
_ “I apologize for the abruptness of this call, I know you might be busy so I’ll just – I’ll make this quick, _ ” Ninomiya says, “ _Is that position you were offering me before still open? I’ve just handed over my resignation so if that position is still open, I’ll take it_.”   
  
Matsumoto gives him a look, a cautious one at that and gestures him to stay quiet even when all Sho wants is to ask Ninomiya what the hell he thinks he’s doing.   
  
“I – think it is better that we talk about this in person, Ninomiya-san,” Matsumoto says, “How about I meet you in, twenty minutes? Wherever is fine with you, I don’t mind. Just tell me where and I’ll come meet you there,” 


	18. Chapter 18

“What in hell do you think you’re doing?!” he snaps, annoyed. He reaches out, tries to take possession of his phone but Matsumoto is quicker. He’s able to hide it before Sho even manages to grab it from him, putting it where Sho can’t reach it and Sho grunts, frustrated, annoyed, helpless.   
  
“Matsumoto-san, hand me back my phone, please?” he says; he’s trying to be patient but Matsumoto is seriously making it difficult for him to do so.   
  
“Relax, Sho-san. Jesus, you should see yourself right now,” Matsumoto chuckles, shifting just so and quickly taking one of Sho’s hands in his, grasping it firmly around his own. “You look like you’re about to blow a blood vessel, chill, will you?”   
  
Sho hopes it’s that easy, but given the situation, it’s impossible. He knows it’s not his job to worry, but still – “Matsumoto-san, I’m kindly requesting you to hand over my phone. Please. I need to talk to Ohno-san about this –“ he says, words halting into a stop when the other man grunts and reaches over to cup his cheek.   
  
“No, listen, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Matsumoto says, grip firm around Sho’s jaw. Sho tries to back away but it’s difficult when, despite his annoyance, Matsumoto’s touch is enough to make him weak in the knees. Their eyes catch and for a moment there, Sho realized he can’t breathe.   
  
He wishes it doesn’t have anything to do with Matsumoto touching him, and that he’s just worried. But even he knows he’s not that good at lying.   
  
“Sho-san, come on, think about it for a second, will you? Samii-kun and Ninomiya-san –“   
  
Sho lowers his gaze, pulse racing. “If you’re telling me I shouldn’t worry about them, save your breath. My job and whatever I do for Ohno-san, and the company for that matter, is none of your concern.” He says as he twitches away from Matsumoto’s grasp.   
  
“And I really have to go now,” he says, emphasizing it by wriggling free from Matsumoto’s grip but the other man barely relents.   
  
Matsumoto heaves a sigh but he doesn’t let go. “Will you please listen to what I have to say first?” Matsumoto says; it didn’t escape him that Matsumoto’s voice sounded marginally softer, his hold around Sho’s cheek even more so.   
  
“Sho-san, come on, look at me.” Matsumoto coaxes, fingers moving to cup Sho’s chin. Sho purses his lips but doesn’t cave in.   
  
“Matsumoto-san, you need to understand that Ohno-san isn’t just my employer,” he says, “Apart from that, he _is_ also my friend. And right now, he needs me, so if you could please –“   
  
“God, you think I don’t know that? Of course, I do. What kind of man do you take me for, Sho-san?” Matsumoto says, sounding touché annoyed, and maybe a little frustrated. Sho can very well sympathize.   
It’s terribly frustrating that they’re having this conversation when he’s needed somewhere else, when he’s honestly torn between telling Matsumoto off and kissing the crap out him to stop him talking. It’s so damn depressing that for the first time since he’d been employed in Samii-jima, he feels totally incapable of doing his job, and for an entirely different reason at that.   
  
“How I view you as a man doesn’t have anything to do with my relationship with Ohno-san and how I do my job, Matsumoto-san,” he says, jaw clenched. God, how does this become so difficult in so little time? They’re better off without talking, apparently, and it frustrates Sho even more to think that to be true.   
  
“I know that too, damn it, will you please just hear me out?” Matsumoto says, frustration marring his tone. “You came to me for help more than once, Sho-san, so that goes without saying that you trusted me,” Matsumoto says, sounding tired, maybe a little hurt as he pulls away. Sho feels the loss of it acutely.   
  
“And that’s why I’m telling you to listen because this will not only benefit your boss, but you as well.”   
  
Sho frowns and raises his head to meet Matsumoto’s gaze straight on.   
  
“What do you mean?” he asks.   
  
There’s a smile there, curving the edges of Matsumoto’s lips when Sho looks at him properly; it makes Sho’s fingers itch to touch, but he holds himself this time.   
  
“I knew you’d see sense, eventually,” Matsumoto says, turning to face him properly. “See, I think it’s better that we….”   
  
  
++   
  
  
“You’re sure about this?” Aiba says when he ends the call. He’s not, really, but it’s a done thing now and there’s no way he’s going to take it back.   
  
He doesn’t even want to think about it, to be honest.   
  
Aiba takes the envelope he’d hastily shoved into the other man’s hands earlier, as soon as Aiba arrived, not even giving himself the chance to change his mind. He’d wanted it gone, as much as everything else about his association with Samii-jima and Ohno Satoshi.   
  
It hurts, just thinking about it, and the vague feeling like he is being stabbed repeatedly in the heart doesn’t even quite cut it. It’s disappointing and equal-parts numbing, that things would have to end this way when they’ve barely even started, when they’ve been almost inseparable that morning before all this crap happened.   
  
He hadn’t even been thinking of an end -  how could he when everything was perfect as they were – but he guessed he was wrong.   
  
“Yes,” he says, hoping he didn’t sound as miserable as he feels.   
  
At the very least, ending things as early as now will probably help (he hopes), and if doesn’t, then there’s nothing he can do but accept things as they are, and just opts on crossing that bridge when he gets there.   
  
Aiba is thoughtful when he takes the envelope and slides it into his workbag. Nino watches him take it away, hoping the heavy feeling will go away once it is out of his sight. It doesn’t, and Nino hates it.   
  
He hates feeling weak, of feeling like he’s about to let go of something so precious just because he’s hurt by it. He hates that he has too little control of his emotions when he has never been this way with other people.   
  
Nino doesn’t want to admit it’s that serious, his feelings for Ohno, that is; that he’s got it bad for Ohno that it kills him everytime he thinks about Ohno’s dismissal earlier. It hurts like fuck to be treated like he means nothing, even though a part of him keeps telling him he might as well be just over-reacting.   
  
How could he when all he remembers is Ohno’s face before he turned around and told Nino to do whatever the hell he wanted? That was the painful part, the disappointing part that broke Nino’s heart then, and the same thing that’s breaking his heart now. It wasn’t how he imagined things would go, really; especially not after Ohno came and saved Nino from Toma like his very own Knight in shining armor because, didn’t Ohno say Nino meant more to him now than he was before?   
  
What happened then? Was it really just because of Toma? Or is it because of something else?   
  
“What would I tell them if they ask me?” Aiba asks, breaking through Nino’s mental conflict.   
  
Nino inhales slowly, letting his breath out in the same manner as he meets Aiba’s gaze.   
  
“That you don’t know anything,” he says. Well, it’s the truth; Aiba has no idea Nino’s been dating their boss, after all, and he wants to keep it that way.   
  
“Okay,” Aiba agrees, but it’s evident in the way he is looking at Nino that he wants to know more, or least know what exactly brought this on.   
  
“But, are you sure you’re not going to tell me what really happened?” Aiba asks, slow and careful, like he’s trying not to offend Nino by asking. “I mean, you don’t have to if you don’t feel like it, really, but you know I – I’m just worried about you, Nino-chan.”   
  
Nino nods; Aiba has been such a good friend to him, and he’s honestly sad over this decision. That he had to leave his friend behind, his job, and the company itself, just because he’s stupid enough to date their boss. He should have known that having a personal relationship with the same person he’s working for is a bad idea, obviously worse than dating a co-worker, but he still went with it. He knew that there are going to be consequences, complications, especially when they clash, or fight over even the simplest things – which they did, unsurprisingly – but he ignored those just the same.   
  
And now this. Not even a week in and he’s here, handing over his resignation letter like a complete loser.   
  
He should have seen this one coming, only he didn’t because he shut his eyes and ignored the possibilities, simply because he thought Ohno is different.   
  
Being with Ohno these past week, the past few days, last night and this morning, had been the happiest he’s ever been in a long time and that alone is enough to make him forget his doubts, his worries about the whole affair.   
  
He was wrong to assume it will last.   
  
“It’s about the President, isn’t it?” Aiba states, though he didn’t even seem to be asking, sounding completely certain. Nino bites his lips, unable to quell the pain spreading inside his chest, his eyes stinging at the memory of Ohno’s face when he turned his back on Nino.   
  
“I –“ Nino starts, then bites his tongue to stop himself talking, lump forming in his throat as he locks his gaze on a spot he finds on the table. “H-How did you know?” he asks instead, when he’s finally able to talk without stuttering, his throat working hard as he tries swallowing his emotions down.   
  
Aiba’s fingers find his wrist and squeezes. “I think everyone in the office does,” Aiba says; Nino is honestly surprised he’s whipping his head up to look at Aiba in question, finding the taller man smiling knowingly back at him.   
  
“What, you mean you were trying to keep it a secret?” Aiba asks, looking and sounding amused. “Sorry, but it didn’t work. Everyone knew you were dating the President, probably way before you guys made it official.”   
  
“ _Ungh_ ,” he groans, hiding his face in his hands. Now he knows gossip really do travel fast. “I don’t even know what to say to you.”   
  
Aiba’s hand finds his shoulder, squeezing comfortingly. Nino wishes it is enough.   
  
“It’s fine,” Aiba says, “I just don’t like seeing you like this.” Aiba follows, then, “Did something bad happen? Did you guys fight?” Aiba says, then, softly, “You did, huh? Otherwise you won’t be handing over your resignation like this.”   
  
Nino shakes his head. He feels rather conflicted, confused. “It was because I’m stupid. I was never meant to be in the first place, but I – I guess I thought wrong. I’ve learned my lesson, so just – please stop asking anymore. I just want to forget all of this. Please.”   
  
Aiba looks entirely unconvinced but he doesn’t say anything anymore. He just keeps his hand where it is, offering Nino comfort he knows Nino needed, keeping Nino company even when neither of them are talking.   
  
Nino prefers it that way, anyway.   
  
  
++   
  
  
He’s not sure how long he’d been sitting there, sprawled on his ass on the floor, his back against the door, but he’s certain it must be for at least an hour.   
  
He can’t bring himself to move, though at this point, he probably should. His legs have gone numb and he’s fucking thirsty, his nose blocked and he’s drenched with sweat from all the crying.   
  
God, what had he done?   
  
Just this morning, they’d been here, kissing and kissing and holding each other as if the very thought of separating was terrifying. What did just happen?   
  
_What did you expect, you idiot?,_ that tiny voice inside his head mocks him yet again, burying his face in his hands. _That he’ll come running after you when you turn on your back and leave? You don’t even deserve him, you sorry piece of shit_.   
  
He feels pathetic, and he’s sure as hell he looks like it too but he deserves it. He couldn’t imagine how Nino must have felt when he’d acted like a total jerk, when he could have simply asked Nino what just happened, what the fuss was all about. He should have, but as usual, he’d just assumed of the worst, and treated Nino like he meant nothing to him when all he wanted was to have Nino close after that few terrifying hours he thought Nino was missing.   
  
But he couldn’t help it, could he? He could have, of course, of course, but he didn’t because he’s an idiot. He could have said something else, could have told Nino he was sorry _, please don’t leave, I didn’t mean it, just come inside and let me hold you, I was just afraid I’d lost you, please_ , but he didn’t.   
  
_Call him_ , that voice inside his head nudges him, telling him exactly what he should have done the second he realized his mistake. _Apologize. Tell him you didn’t mean it. Tell him you love him, that you’re a complete idiot for thinking he’s still in love with that person when he’s just been with you the night before. Tell him. Just tell him. Tell him everything._   
  
He struggles to find his phone, fingers shaking around it when he finally has it in his hand. He unlocks the screen, taps the call icon as soon as his gaze found it, and startles when the phone starts vibrating in his palm.   
  
Someone is calling, and unfortunately, it’s not Nino.   
  
“Sho-kun?”   
  
_Ohno-san_ , Sho says from the other end, his voice sounded grave _. I’m not really sure what happened after you left, but I think you have to know this_ … Sho follows.   
  
_Ninomiya-san had just forwarded his resignation letter to my email. He says it’s urgent. And irrevocable. I tried to call him but his phone is off but he did send me a text saying that he’ll just ask Aiba-san to collect his things for him_ – Sho continues, but Ohno is no longer listening.   
  
He watches as his phone falls to the floor, watches as it lays flat there, wondering why it honestly feels like his heart had just suffered the same fate.

 

\----------

 

Part 2

 

“There, it’s done.” Sho grunts as he puts his phone away. He can’t say he’s completely in favor of Matsumoto-san’s plans, but at this point, he honestly couldn’t think of anything worthy enough to help Ohno get his shit together, knowing it’s what the other man needs.   
  
It’s bad enough that Ohno loves Ninomiya-san with everything he has but could still fuck his relationship up just like that, but that’s because he’s Ohno. Sho doesn’t even want to know what in hell Ohno did this time around to seal Ninomiya-san’s decision to file his resignation not even an hour after they’ve found him, but Sho has plenty enough ideas.   
  
And to be honest, they’re not at all pretty.   
  
“Now what?” he follows, catching Matsumoto-san’s gaze when he turns to face him.    
  
His chest heaves yet again at the sight of Matsumoto’s face, arrested by the other man’s captivating beauty; Matsumoto-san’s lips curl into that familiar smile and he is once again rendered speechless at the memory of that pretty, pretty mouth moving against his own.   
  
“Now I drop you off at Samii-kun’s before I go and meet Ninomiya-san,” Matsumoto-san says, voice husky with feelings as he leans over for a kiss. Sho simply lets it happen, closing his eyes and savoring the feeling of Matsumoto-san’s mouth covering his, his kisses slow, unhurried.   
  
Sho breathes and lets his fingers work their way to Matsumoto-san’s nape, parting his mouth to let Matsumoto-san’s tongue in, thinking he could worry about those other things later.   
  
For now, it’s only Matsumoto-san and him.    
  
The rest of the world could wait.   
  
  
++   
  
His fingers are shaking as he wills them to work, picking his phone from where it has fallen on the floor. He slides his thumb over the screen to unlock it, heart pounding hard in his chest as he taps on the Call button and stares hard at the name he had called last.   
  
_ Ohno-san _ , _I’m not really sure what happened after you left, but I think you have to know this_. _Ninomiya-san had just forwarded his resignation letter to my email. He says it’s urgent. And irrevocable._   
  
God, what had he done?   
  
_ You fucked up, that’s what _ … he tells himself, gripping his phone tightly his knuckles are turning white. _Nino did what he had to because you hurt him, because you let your mouth run away with you when you could have reigned it in and kept it firmly shut._   
  
_ Don’t he know it? _ He’s a mess, and what he did to Nino it’s – it’s unthinkable. He doesn’t even know he’s capable of such stupidity, but apparently, even he himself isn’t aware he could do such a thing to the very person who means a lot to him, but yes, stupidity, he obviously has an overabundance of it that it’s not even funny.   
  
There’s this twisting pain in his gut that makes even the simplest thing as breathing difficult, and God, even he knows what it means.   
  
It hasn’t even been more than an hour and already his misery is clawing at him at every turn, his breath catching every goddamn time he remembers the expression on Nino’s face when he left. If he thought he’d never get over the pain of Nino’s rejection before, he’s certainly wrong because this – this is something else entirely.    
  
The pain is so dominant he could feel it slicing through him everytime he breathes, buzzing across his skin like electric current; it’s like an ever present ache planted squarely in his chest, throbbing painfully every single time he tries to breathe through it.   
  
If this is how having a broken heart feels like, Ohno is certain it’s a miracle one could live through it without wanting to end it all as soon as it began.    
  
His finger hover over Nino’s name and he swears he can feel his heart thumping hard in his ribcage, beating so loudly that it honestly feels like it’s trying to jump its way out of Ohno’s chest. He taps on Nino’s name once, hands shaking along with the rest of him as he lifts his arm, mustering enough courage to plaster his phone against his ear even though he’s so scared he almost, almost dropped it.   
  
He closes his eyes and wills the tears away as he waits for the call to connect, only one thought in his mind at the moment.   
  
He needs to fix this.   
  
And he will. He will.   
  
No matter what it takes, no matter how hard it would be.    
  
_ Sorry, you have reached the mailbox of 090-0617-3104. Please leave a message after the tone. _   
  
Ohno clutches his phone in his hand, contemplating between throwing it against the wall and letting it fall. He does neither, and instead open his mouth and wills his voice to work despite the lump blocking his throat.    
  
“N-Nino, I – I’m sorry. C-Can we talk?”   
  
++   
  
Nino feels entirely queasy when he got there.   
  
It took him a while to get his bearings, just enough to raise his hand and command his limbs to knock on the door. He could feel his heart thumping away in his chest watching the door open, unsure and equal-parts terrified.   
  
Is this really what he wants?   
  
“Ninomiya-san,” Matsumoto-san greets with a wave of his hand, gestures him inside with a familiar enough smile that has Nino returning it in kind. He’s still queasy when he steps inside, still anxious when he bows his head and lets his feet take him forward to where Matsumoto-san is waiting, despite Nino’s reluctance.   
  
Matsumoto-san rises from his seat when Nino is close enough and offers his hand. Nino receives the offered handshake with an almost smile, feeling inappropriately undeserving of Matsumoto-san’s kindness as the other man gestures for him to sit.   
  
It hasn’t even been a few hours since Matsumoto-san technically rescued him from Toma-kun and now he’s here again, obviously about to rescue Nino from his sudden unemployment because of his stupidity, which he refuses to admit it as it is.   
  
No, it’s not stupidity, not really; it’s just him trying to salvage what is left of his broken heart and torn pride because he’s too damn easy to let someone else handle it for him.   
  
“M-Matsumoto-san,” he starts, then pauses, fingers twisting on his lap. He can’t even bring himself to meet Matsumoto-san’s eyes this time, as he keeps his own trained on the floor. It’s not to say that he’s embarrassed, but, okay, maybe he is, but only because he couldn't help it, the reaction is just natural, normal. He made too many wrong choices and now he’s suffering because of them.    
  
It’s time to put an end to all of it.   
  
“Do you want anything to drink first, Ninomiya-san?” the other man asks; he sounded genuinely amused, maybe a little fond, and Nino feels warmth creeping up on his cheeks despite himself, as he shakes his head in answer.    
  
“I’m good,”   
  
“Not even water?” Matsumoto-san insists, to which Nino answers with a smile.    
  
_ Still so persistent, _ Nino thinks, and then nods his head in lieu of answering. Then somehow, a tall glass of water appears in front of him, Nino reaching for it with both hands as Matsumoto-san walks around his desk to sit on his chair.    
  
Nino brings the glass to his lips and sips generously as he watches Matsumoto-san taps an unknown rhythm on the tabletop. He looks unfazed, just like always, but his impatient tapping gives him away.    
  
Nino sighs.   
  
“So, care telling me why you have suddenly decided to take on my job offer now when you’ve never bothered before or do I even want to?” Matsumoto-san starts, eyes lidded with curiosity. Nino puts the glass of water down and lowers his gaze to the ground. His heart is heaving, and he knows that every other vital part of him does, too.    
  
Nino shakes his head and tries choosing his words carefully. Of all the things he needed, the last thing he wants is to come off as desperate, but it’s difficult when he might just seem like it. It’s getting increasingly hard to pretend he’s doing this for the sake of landing a quick employment because he knows that he’s not.    
  
He’s experienced enough to find a job somewhere else, somewhere far, some place where the chances of him tripping over Samii-jima’s President is close to none, but instead, he did the exact opposite. He called the one person who would be entirely pleased to shove the news of his employment right into his rival’s face the second he secured it, knowing what the news might entail.    
  
Nino knows this. Of course, _of course._   
  
He honestly just doesn’t care.    
  
He needs a job, yes; but that doesn’t necessarily mean he needs to decide about it now. He can sit down and think it through, have a little time to himself to weigh his options. But he didn’t. He wouldn’t.   
  
Calling Matsumoto-san to accept that job is a ruse, a pure selfish act of bravado to cover up the way he’d been shoved aside like dirt, like he meant nothing.   
  
He’s mostly certain how the President of Samii-jima (he can’t even fucking say that guy’s name, even in his head) is going to take the news of his “favorite” employee landing on Matsumoto-san’s lap when he wasn’t looking, but he gets the sick feeling that he’s going to enjoy it.   
  
He’s hurt. And if it’s desperation prompting him to do as he pleases, now, to want to hurt the person who hurt him in return, then so be it.   
  
He guesses it’s just a small punishment for the way he’s gotten his heart broken without remorse, just a small payback for the pain punching through him every goddamn time he thinks about that person wondering what went wrong.   
  
“Am I required to disclose every single detail of my personal life just to get this job?” he asks, squaring his shoulders and looking Matsumoto-san in the eyes.    
  
He may have his reasons, however personal they may be, but that doesn’t mean he has to walk around telling everyone about it. It’s bad enough that he might bring trouble with him the second Matsumoto-san accepts him in his company, but Nino is prepared for the worst. Besides, he didn’t come here seeking an alliance – he’s just trying to get his life together in the best way he knows how while also shoving the fact that Samii-jima Hotels isn’t the only place he could be productive at to Samii-jima’s President’s face.   
  
It’s a hard decision but Nino’s given only a short amount of time to come to terms with it, and he will.    
  
Matsumoto-san smiles, one that is one part-indulging and two-parts amused, shaking his head and standing up from his desk, reaching for Nino’s hand.    
  
“Not really, Ninomiya-san,” Matsumoto-san says, shaking Nino’s hands in a tight grip.    
  
Nino returns the gesture in kind, willing the ugly twisting in his stomach away with a smile of his own.   
  
“Welcome to Stay Gold Hotels,”    
  
Nino bows and mutters his thanks.


	19. Chapter 19

Part 1

 

“You sure you’ll be okay in here?” asks Matsumoto-san for what seemed like the fifteenth time since he’d led Nino to the front desk and had apologized for having to put him there, for the time being.    
  
Nino’s not sure what the other man’s deal is – Nino’s just all too glad to be able to distract himself with work, more so now that he badly needs it – but it sure feels like there’s more to this seemingly odd behavior than what Matsumoto-san wants him to see and it’s honestly kind of weird, if not hilarious.   
  
Well, he guesses there really _is_ more to this because then Matsumoto-san won’t be acting like he’s willing to terminate any of his staff just so Matsumoto-san could keep him, and that’s what’s seriously worrying. The fact that it wasn’t until they’ve agreed on the terms of his employment that they all realized that the position he’d been headhunted before was no longer available, but then Matsumoto-san assured him, on the spot, almost hurriedly, that it’d be vacated soon, and that he didn’t have to worry about anything.   
  
It’s high time he reshuffled his staff anyway, Matsumoto-san had said with a completely straight face but the way Matsumoto-san’s secretary was hurriedly tapping on his tablet to probably put that into their next meeting’s agenda after Matsumoto-san’s brief glance towards the secretary’s direction certainly didn’t escape Nino’s attention.   
  
“Seriously, Matsumoto-san, it’s okay,” and Nino tells him for the nth time, feeling marginally embarrassed about the unnecessary attention. It’s bad enough that he’s the reason there’s going to be an untimely staff reshuffling, and being treated like a freaking royalty on top of it just makes it worse.    
  
He honestly doesn’t need to be treated differently, and the last thing he wants is for his co-workers to hate him now that he’s going to be working here from now on, but he guesses there’s nothing he could do about it either.   
  
“I’ll be fine,” he says, bowing his head and wishing no one is close enough to hear him and Matsumoto-san talking. “I was assigned in the front desk during the first few years in that hotel in Singapore, you remember? So, I don’t really mind whether you put me to work here or on some other department.”   
  
Matsumoto-san simply smiles and reaches over to pat Nino on the shoulder; it’s probably meant to be reassuring but Nino is too wary, too tired to even feel it.   
  
“I know,” Matsumoto-san says; he looks thoughtful, maybe a touché amused, and Nino wonders yet again what in hell it all means. He wants to ask but something tells him he won’t get the answer he’s expecting anyway so he doesn’t bother.   
  
He just bows his head and waits until he hears the tell-tale sounds of Matsumoto-san’s footsteps as he walks away.   
  
++   
  
He’s on his first break when he remembers to turn on his phone.    
  
The consecutive beeping sounds his phone makes the second it blares to life makes him antsy, his fingers shaking around their grip on the device as the screen is slowly being filled with notifications from the time he shut it off up until now.    
  
He goes through them mechanically, could feel his heart thumping hard in his chest the second his eyes settle on the one notification that has him bypassing every other message to stare at this one.   
  
_ You have one voice mail message from President Ohno – _   
  
_ Seriously?, _ he thinks, shaking, honestly part-surprised and equal-parts annoyed over the fact that Ohno has such strong hold on him despite of everything. That Ohno could simply send him a no-nonsense voice message and his heart would behave like a lovesick idiot. Nino hates that he couldn’t help the way his pulse race just by simply reading Ohno’s name, that it doesn’t even matter whether he’d been dumped like a forgettable one-night stand because even despite the short time they spent together, Nino is certain he hadn’t loved anyone as much as he loved – _loves_ – Ohno.   
  
It took him minutes (it honestly felt like hours) until he decided to check it. After all, there’s no way he’s going to just be able to ignore it, not after seeing it, so that’s that.    
  
His hands are shaking when he slaps his phone to his ear, listening intently until he hears the familiar click, followed by an equally-familiar voice that makes his insides twist painfully.   
  
_ “N-Nino, I – I’m sorry. C-Can we talk?” _   
  
  
++   
  
  
It’s quiet when Ohno enters the bar and the first he sees is Matsumoto Jun sitting alone at the bar’s counter, his back facing Ohno. Even from the admittedly short distance, Ohno recognizes the strain on his arms, his shoulders stiff as if something else entirely is bothering him while he waits there.   
  
Ohno picks up the pace and doesn’t bother greeting the other man when he quietly slides onto the stool next to Matsumoto, humming under his breath the second his gaze catches Matsumoto’s own.   
  
“You’re late,” Matsumoto says, though he doesn’t sound like he means it at all. Ohno shrugs.   
  
“Traffic’s a bitch,”   
  
“You’re kidding, right?” Matsumoto says; Ohno’s not, really, but who the hell cares. He’s already here, that’s all that matters.   
  
Before any of them could utter another word, the guy tending the bar quickly comes over with a tall glass of what Ohno presumed is oolong tea infused with mint, sliding it quietly in front of Ohno with a slight nod of his head. Ohno mutters a quiet “Thanks,” under his breath and takes the drink with one hand and brings it to his lips for a sip, wondering what it is. Oolong tea? Or something else?   
  
The It’s Oolong tea, alright; and it tastes exactly as how he wants it, as he normally have it.   
  
“I thought we could save the hard liquor for later,” Jun says, as if explaining why Ohno was given tea for starters. “If you want it, of course.”   
  
“Maybe,” Ohno says, shrugging. “I could do without it though, to be honest.”   
  
“If you say so,” Jun adds, taking a sip of his own drink quietly. Ohno picks up his own to do the same, while wondering the merits of sitting here and drinking tea next to the man whom he had mixed feelings for from the very beginning.    
  
There are a few, _of course_ , of course, but they certainly don’t overshadow the only reason why Ohno is here right now, and why he’d decided to swallow his pride and had dragged his ass over here to meet Matsumoto the way he could have never done before today.   
  
But then again, desperate times calls for desperate measures – and Ohno would be lying if he said otherwise because the fact of the matter is he _is_ desperate, and he’s honestly at this point in his life where he’s willing to risk anything just to be able to right the wrongs he did, just so he could be able to make it up with Nino.   
  
Even then, he still has his doubts. It’s just normal, he thinks, when, one, he’s not at all sure why Matsumoto Jun seems to be always involve in his personal affairs, most especially since he’d been associated with Nino, and two, why he always ends up seeking Matsumoto’s help despite himself.   
  
Though Matsumoto doesn’t seem to be all that interested in Nino, at least not in the way that Ohno himself certainly is, but he honestly can’t be sure. There’s a back story in there somewhere and Ohno promised himself he’s going to find it sooner, if not later.   
  
He takes quite a long moment to re-arrange his thoughts and finds himself remembering yet again why he was so pissed at Matsumoto during the most part of his trip over here. That pissed-of part seriously wants to punch the living shit out of Matsumoto then, mostly because of how he’d taken advantage of his and Nino’s situation by swooping right in to steal Nino from him while he was busy wallowing but the other, more dominant part of him is so grateful for Matsumoto’s presence in their life that it should be disgusting, because no matter how he looks at it, Matsumoto has been so much better at taking care of Nino than he himself had ever been, and that’s mostly because he’s an idiot.   
  
He probably should let Nino be, let him be with someone he could be happier with, considering the fact that he’s obviously shit in that category, too, but the thing is that he can’t, he refused to.    
  
He can’t because he knows he could do so much better than this, and he would; he’d only been without Nino for almost a day and it already feels like a vital part of him had been clawed painfully away from him that he could barely breathe without it, couldn’t function properly knowing that he’d hurt Nino, deliberately so, even though he wouldn’t admit it.   
  
He already knows how wonderful it felt to be with Nino, how being with Nino alone outweighs the doubts he has with himself and his supposed ability to love someone else other than himself before; he’s had a little taste and that alone is enough to make him want to repeatedly strangle himself for his undeniable idiocy, knowing how difficult it already is to be without Nino.   
  
Not that he is planning on being without Nino, because he isn’t – he can’t - at least not if he could help it, so he’s going to try and do everything in his power to get Nino back, whatever it takes.   
  
And that is why he is here.   
  
“Nah, I’m good,” He says, “I’d rather do this sober, if you get my drift.”   
  
A beat. “I do,” Jun hums, sounding so very amused to the point that it should be annoying. It should be but it isn’t, and it’s probably because Ohno has enough supply of patience that it’s easier to tamp his temper down, now.    
  
Ohno knows there’s a good enough reason why that must be.   
  
It’s Nino; and so is Ohno’s promise to Nino himself, about making it up to the other man no matter what.   
  
“But I sure hope that whatever it is that you want to do sober doesn’t include beating the living crap out of me for hiring your most favorite employee, or am I being too hopeful?” Matsumoto asks – teases – and Ohno finds a smile for him despite himself.   
  
Ohno grins and shakes his head because despite the fact that he _did_ think of beating the living shit out of Matsumoto before, he’s honestly not thinking about it now. Maybe later, he thinks, and grins quietly to himself.    
  
“I’m not,” he says, “but that doesn’t mean I won’t, eventually, if I realize you’re doing all this shit just so you could steal him from me.”   
  
“Technically, I already did.”   
  
“I wish we’re still talking about Ninomiya-san’s employment here because if we’re not, I swear I won’t be held responsible for breaking your jaw right here.”   
  
“Woah, there!” Matsumoto cries, feigning shock. Ohno chuckles and shakes his head.   
  
“Seriously though –“ he starts but Matsumoto is quickly there to stop him with a hand over his shoulder.   
  
“Relax, Samii-kun, I was just teasing you,” Matsumoto says; he sounded genuinely sincere that it makes things in Ohno’s chest tight, grateful and equal-parts glad that despite him acting like a total jackass whenever Matsumoto is around, Matsumoto doesn’t seem like he takes those things personally.   
  
“I’m sure you’re aware that I’ve got my eyes full of your secretary’s ass so I have no time to be interested in someone else’s.”   
  
“Eh?”   
  
“Or you can forget what I’ve just said and let’s just talk about why you’re here instead, how about it?” Matsumoto segues, much to Ohno’s confusion.    
  
Matsumoto looks like he’s about to get sick – he’s so pink – and Ohno wonders briefly what is it about his secretary’s ass that – oh, fuck, what?    
  
“Oh, shit, you and Sho-kun –“   
  
“I said forget about it, didn’t I?!”   
  
  
++   
  
  
He’s there even before Aiba gets two steps to the door. It’s important not to let the others see but Sho can’t be bothered to be subtle when there are far more important things he should be worrying, apart from letting the other employees see how worried he is.   
  
To his credit, Aiba doesn’t look the least bit surprised when Sho stops him.   
  
“Aiba-san, do you have a minute?” he asks; Aiba simply nods and follows him as he leads the way to the President’s office.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Part 2

“I know what you’re asking me here, Sakurai-san,” Aiba-san says. “And I’m telling you, I know nothing. Ninomiya-san handed over that letter and left even before I could ask him what is going on.” He says.   
  
Sho looks the man over and wishes he could tell whether the man is lying, but he couldn’t, not really.   
  
“He didn’t say anything about – about him and the President? Or the reason why he’s resigning?” Sho asks.  
  
“No,” Aiba-san answers. “Shouldn’t the reason be stated in his resignation letter?”   
  
Sho shakes his head. “Well, I’m sorry, but he didn’t tell me,” Aiba-san says, “but if there’s anything, I swear I’ll tell you.”  
  
Sho nods his head in agreement, wishing he could ask Aiba-san more without sounding like he’s interrogating him. He sighs. God, he’s so tired.  
  
“Okay, Aiba-san,” he says, “please just don’t forget to let me know if Ninomiya-san calls you. I – please just tell him that I want to meet him so we can, you know, talk?”  
  
“Sure thing, Sakurai-san.”  
  
Sho nods. “Okay. Thank you and I apologize again for keeping you here.”  
  
Aiba stands up and shakes his head, smiling. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it. I’ll head out now. See you tomorrow.”  
  
“See you.”   
  
Once Aiba closes the door behind him, Sho finds himself slumping on his chair, hands on either side of his head.   
  
What now?  
  
  
  
++  
  
It’s late when he and Matsumoto parted ways, so much so that he had to contemplate calling Okada to come pick him up.   
  
In the end, he decided to just go for a walk, while thinking back on what he and Matsumoto have talked about earlier.   
  
He was honestly glad he went, because by doing so he was able to view things about him and Nino the way he wasn’t able to before. He wouldn’t openly admit it but having that talk with Matsumoto earlier also made him realize how witty and effortlessly charming the other man is, and that he was so wrong to assume that the other man is just a jerk with a pretty face.  
  
Other than the fact that he feels awful about himself in general, it’s difficult not to feel properly embarrassed about his attitude towards Matsumoto, especially with how he had resented the man from the time the two of them met.  
  
Hearing Matsumoto talk about Nino earlier – from when he’d first met Nino in Singapore and what he honestly felt about Nino from then on, what he honestly thought about him and Nino together, of him, especially -  had further refuted his awful first impression of the other man despite himself.  
  
He couldn’t say that he liked everything Matsumoto had said but the fact of the matter is that they are all terrifyingly accurate. From Matsumoto’s own impression of him, right after Matsumoto had learned about his cute, little crush on Nino (Matsumoto’s words, not his) and how Matsumoto had been certain he was going to fuck things up between him and Nino eventually.  
  
 _I’d say it’s not entirely unexpected_ , Matsumoto had said and Ohno had just sat there and listened to everything Matsumoto had to say _. I know your type, Samii-kun, and I could certainly say that I do know Ninomiya-san rather well, too, so it’s not hard to guess that you two are a perfect match_ , Matsumoto followed.  
  
 _But still, rushing things won’t work because you are both hard-headed individuals, people who doesn’t normally compromise their own worth, their own ‘personal space’ just for the heck of it. The likes of you need the reassurance that you can be your own person despite the fact that you’re in a relationship with someone, and that I know you both had to gather more than your normal doses of courage to be able to jump over that final hurdle just so you could be together_., Matsumoto said, then paused here to look Ohno over.   
  
_Brave, I will give you that; brave, but foolish_ , Matsumoto had said, _because we all know that if you’re not careful, either one of you, you might ruin things before they even began. And you did_.   
  
He’d remained quiet then, letting the words tumble in his head as he thought things through.   
  
It could be that, he thinks now, as he absently trudges the way out of the bar he and Matsumoto spent most of their evening earlier; it could be that he’d rushed things with Nino, without even bothering knowing Nino as a person – his attitude, the things he likes and doesn’t, and most especially, his past – and vice versa.   
  
He could deny it all he wants but it’s clear when the trouble began and it has everything to do with the fact that he and Nino – they don’t know each other at all, much as he wants to begrudge himself on this, because it’s true. He’d pursued Nino without even considering the consequences, only letting himself be swept away by his passion, by his desire to claim Nino his.   
  
And then what happened afterwards? He turned his back on Nino on the first sign of trouble, letting his confusion, his jealousy and his pride get the best of him without even considering Nino’s feelings.  
  
He truly is an idiot.  
  
He heaves a sigh and lets his eyes wander before him without actually seeing anything. There are several things he wishes for, now, but all of them point towards his desire to see Nino, to talk to him. There are so many things he wishes to tell Nino, but their mostly apologies than he hasn’t the heart to say through text because Nino deserves more than that.   
  
Nino deserves his respect – which he spectacularly failed to give Nino the first time – and that’s what Nino will get, he’ll make sure of it.  
  
He only wishes for another chance, another try, to make things right. He hopes Nino still have it in him to forgive him, still has the heart to listen to what Ohno has to say.  
  
He has lots of things to say, really.  
  
“I just –“ he murmurs to himself, then pauses when he feels his phone vibrating inside his pants’ pocket.   
  
He scrambles to find it, hands shaking in anticipation, and of something else. He doesn’t really want to get his hopes up but he’d been waiting, been waiting just for Nino’s reply ever since he’d sent that voice message this morning.  
  
When he spies Nino’s name on the screen, he almost lost it, right there in the middle of the street.   
  
Breathing in deeply and gathering all the remaining courage he has left in him, he lets his fingertip hover over the notification mail, heart beating madly in his chest.  
  
He taps, and if he is certain his heart has been trying to beat its way out of his chest earlier, he’s fairly sure it has successfully lodges itself in his throat the moment he read Nino’s reply.  
  
It simply says, “ _Not now.”_   
  
Ohno knows he shouldn’t, but he goes and replies just the same. He types, “I understand. I swear I am willing to wait until you’re ready to talk to me again. But…can’t I at least call you now, to, you know, apologize? Even just for two seconds. Please? I just. I owe you an apology.” then hits Send.  
  
He probably looks like a drunken salaryman right now but he doesn’t care; he paces around, checking his phone every goddamn second and biting his nails whenever he’s not.   
  
When it vibrated again, Ohno is sure he hasn’t felt this crazy urge to throw up and cry at the same time as he unlocks his phone. When he opens the message, somehow, it honestly feels like everything around him remained on pause.   
  
Including his own heart.   
  
_“No.”_  
  
++  
  
Nino pockets his phone and wonders yet again why it feels like this, like he’s the one responsible for breaking his own heart, again, when it’s obviously the opposite.   
  
Ohno made his choice the moment he walked away without even bothering giving Nino the chance to explain himself – if there was anything to be explained, that is – and for him, that was it.  
  
And if Ohno changed his mind later on, like what’s obviously happening now, well, that’s too bad. Nino’s too tired to even wonder what is going on in Ohno’s head right now to even care, and to be honest, he really doesn’t want to.  
  
He could want so many things that involves Ohno but he could try not to, for his own sake. It’s bad enough that he’s here, trudging his way home all by himself and secretly hoping Ohno is here with him.   
  
He badly wants to hear Ohno’s voice, hear him say he didn’t mean what he’s done, admit that he’s wrong, but Nino’s pride is the one refusing this time around. He wants to feel Ohno’s hands on his, Ohno’s lips against his cheek, Ohno’s warm body molded against his own but it’s difficult when his pride balks at the idea.   
  
He’s hurt and he knows it’s going to take some time until he would want to look at Ohno and not be reminded of the pain he’d felt this morning. He knows he might be overreacting but who cares? He’s the one suffering here – the one who has given his heart to someone else, trusting that someone would handle it carefully, but see what just happened?   
  
_I owe you an apology_ , Ohno had said, and Nino finds himself smiling bitterly from it, because to be honest, Ohno owes him a whole lot of other things, not just an apology.  
  
He knows it’s going to take them both more than those to be able to fix this, if they even manage to, but he guesses it could wait.   
  
Nino wants to, but for now, he can’t. He just wants to be alone with his thoughts, lick his own wounds, so to say, and be his own self without any interference from Ohno.  
  
He wishes Ohno will respect that.  
  
  
++  
  
He doesn’t hear from Ohno again after his last text.   
  
Somehow, Nino wonders why his heart squeezes painfully even more in disappointment.

 


	20. Chapter 20

“What? What are you talking about?” Sho sputters; in other times, Ohno would have found Sho’s reaction all too funny, but not today. 

Today, he’s considering a lot of things. The job he’s been putting on hold for weeks on end, the Chiba project Nino had proposed himself, with Aiba, before everything went to hell between them, amongst other things, and the fact that if he doesn’t kick his ass into gear, he’ll be putting his company, his employees – and eventually, himself – to jeopardy.

He’s done wallowing because he knows nothing good will come out of it. He won’t be able to convince Nino to talk to him if he keeps secluding himself from the world, or earn Nino’s forgiveness by doing so, either.

Maybe, a distraction of some sort would help. Just something to take his mind off things, anything to focus on just so he won’t have to worry about the ache clawing away in his chest everytime he thinks of Nino.

He sighs and swivels his chair around, meets the all-too-genuine concern on Sho’s eyes. 

“I have to do this, Sho-kun,” he says. “You know I have to.”

Sho eyes him carefully, like he doesn’t know what to say or whether to believe him. Ohno can’t exactly blame him. He’d been keeping Sho out of the loop, had not cared telling Sho what was happening to him ever since that night Nino refused to let him talk, apologize. 

He thought it was better that way then. He’d been putting the strain of his personal life on Sho, and on other people who don’t deserve the burden they were forcefully told to carry, because Ohno is an idiot. 

Weeks later and here he is, contemplating his life and his decisions the way he hadn’t meant to before. He’d made it this far because he’d always been confident about himself, his decisions and the way he handles himself, that failing the one thing he supposed was too easy is honestly disappointing as it is heart-wrenching. 

And Ohno has learned his lesson the hard way.

“But –“

He waves a hand and purposely cuts Sho off. “But that doesn’t mean I’m leaving for good because I’m not,” he explains, “I can’t, you know I can’t.” he says, noting the way Sho heaves a sigh of relief in answer. 

He smiles and continues. “I just,” he pauses, considering his words. He still isn’t sure this is what he wants but he is certain it’s what he needs. “I don’t think I’ll be able to work properly if all I think about is how much of a failure I am,” he says, the truth tastes bitter in his tongue. 

“And I’m certain I won’t be able to get Nino out of my head if I stay here,” he adds, stating the one thing he knows matters most. 

It hurts to think that it all came to this but Ohno has a lot to consider, not just himself. It’s painful to even think about the future without Nino in it but he has to man up and accept it, at least for now. It’s not to say that he has given up on Nino because he hasn’t, he couldn’t, but that he needs to give Nino the space, the time to heal the wounds Ohno had caused him, because he knows that he himself needs those as well.

It’s going to be difficult but he needs to accept the fact that this time, breaking up is what they need most, even if it’s the last thing Ohno wants. Ohno needs to learn from his mistakes, to bear the pain of losing Nino now so if ever he comes forward someday, soon, to find Nino, he’ll be able to look Nino in the eyes and ask Nino for another try.

But for now, he needs to do this.

“But, six months?” Sho asks, sounding mildly anxious. “Don’t you think that’s –“

“I was considering staying there for a year but –“

“A year?!” Sho sputters, eyes wide. 

Ohno smiles. “Sho-kun, I know you’re worried but I trust you’re good enough to handle everything around here while I’m gone. You’re not just a secretary, you know? You’re more than that and you know it.” he says. 

Well, he does know that. Sho has been with him long enough to be able to manage everything around here, make decisions by himself, even with Ohno gone. 

Sho shakes his head, more from incredulity than anything, or him doubting his own capabilities to handle the task Ohno has surprisingly dropped on his lap. 

“Six months?“ Sho clarifies and Ohno grins, albeit half-heartedly. He’s doing all this for the sake of giving in to Nino’s requests, much to his heart’s desire to stay.

“More or less,” he answers. “If there’s anything, you can always call or message me, right? It’s not that difficult to coordinate now that we have our phones and the internet at our disposal, yes?”

That settles it. Sho nods his head in agreement, even though he still seems a little shocked. Ohno doesn’t hold it against him, nor he ever will. 

Sho is his friend, after all, and he knows that more than anything, Sho only wants what’s best for him. 

And for that, Ohno is eternally grateful; for him and for his friendship. 

“Okay,” Sho agrees. “So, you leave when?”

Ohno breathes deeply. “The earlier the better,” he says, “or at least once I’m done checking the Chiba Project. We can delegate the job to Aiba-san, since he and Ninomiya-san – “ he pauses here, swallowing the strong urge to sigh. 

“Since it’s his project and he knows exactly what to do about it,” he segues, darting his gaze elsewhere. “We’ll do the preliminary checking and leave the rest to him, what do you think?”

Sho nods, not daring calling Ohno out on his mistake. Ohno smiles, grateful. 

“Okay,” Sho agrees, “just tell me the details of when you want to leave so I can arrange everything. I – are you sure this is what you want?” Sho asks, and Ohno knows it’s his friend talking. 

He rises from his chair and walks around till he reaches Sho, tugging Sho to him and wrapping his friend into an all-too-tight bear hug as Sho wind his arms around him in return. 

He doesn’t tell Sho about what he thinks but instead settles on, “I’ll be okay, Sho-kun, don’t worry.”

Sho doesn’t answer but the way his arms tighten around Ohno says it all. 

 

++

 

“I trust you all to work diligently under Sakurai-san and that you will give him all the respect he deserves, the way you always do when I’m not around.” he says, addressing the room at large, meeting everyone’s eyes as he crosses his arms over his chest. 

Sho remains quiet, as usual, simply standing there and listening to what Ohno has to say. Ohno thinks of the numerous times Sho had stood up on his behalf, the numerous times he took over management when Ohno went for business trips and such, even without him prompting Sho and knows that Sho could do it.

If there is anyone who could, it’s Sho; he’s certain he could leave Japan – and Samii-jima hotels Tokyo Headquarters in general - and be assured that he will come back to the company still up and running because Sho is here to take care of everything. 

He then pauses to assess everyone, chest aching finding Aiba-san’s gaze and the shocking uncertainty (or something else entirely) behind it, knowing that his heart is wishing for someone else, for someone else’s gaze meeting his. He looks away quickly, hoping no one has noticed him staring. 

“We’ll be in Chiba for the most of this week to check the site with Aiba-san,” he says, nodding at Aiba-san, who straightens in his seat. “After that, I’ll hand over everything to him and Sakurai-san before I leave the week after.” He says, not entirely meaning it.

The plan is already set, after all. They’ll be on a flight to Chiba first thing tomorrow and his flight to Las Vegas is scheduled later that day. 

Silence stretches and Ohno is almost convinced this is his employees’ way of saying, “Thank God you’re leaving,” until Matsuoka-san stands up and bows his head, the rest following after him.

“Take care on your trip, Sir, and we wish to see you sooner than later. Don’t worry about anything here; Samii-jima Hotels is in good hands, I assure you that.”

He smiles and meets Sho’s gaze briefly, one-part grateful and two-parts sad for his decision.

_ But it has to be done _ , he thinks, biting the inside of his cheeks and swallowing the lump that lodges itself in his throat.

 

+++

 

Later that evening, Ohno has an unexpected visitor.

“I’m busy,” he says as he opens the door to a smirking Matsumoto Jun. He turns quickly around to find Sho looking unconcerned, obviously acting like he knows nothing, though the way his mouth twitches tells Ohno the exact opposite.

“Aren’t we all?” Matsumoto-san says as he literally pushes his way inside. Ohno sighs and gives way, grumbling under his breath as he closes the door and follows Matsumoto-san inside. 

“I still have some packing to do,” he says, eyeing Matsumoto-san warily as the other man comfortably parks himself on Ohno’s sofa like he owns it. “And in case you’re wondering, you’re not actually welcome here.”

“Ha ha,” Matsumoto-san returns with a smirk, gaze darting sideways to where Sho is. Ohno wishes they’d stop flirting when he’s around because he’s not really comfortable imagining his friend and his so-called arch nemesis being more than a little friendly, if he can’t help it. 

“Very funny, Samii-kun. Really, you could have fooled me right there,” Matsumoto-san says, crossing his legs. Then, “Anyway, the reason I’m here is because someone very reliable had told me you’re planning on moving to America. Care telling me why?”

Ohno rolls his eyes to the heaven and reaches up to pinch the bridge of his nose. 

“Are you fucking serious right now?” he asks, a touché annoyed. He’s not really in the mood to indulge Matsumoto-san of his whims, and the last thing he wants right now is to explain himself and his decisions to someone else, even if that someone happens to be one of the few people who knows what he’s going through at the moment. 

Matsumoto-san simply gives him a look, undeterred. “I thought we already talked about this, Samii-kun –“

“I know that,” he cuts in, his patience running thin. “but after I’ve thought things through, I realized this is what’s best for everyone involved. I don’t… I can’t stay here, I just can’t.” he pauses, running fingers through his hair, agitated. 

“I have to get away from here to…to clear my head,” he says, cursing inwardly. Damn Matsumoto Jun and his goddamn cunning ways to make Ohno talk. 

Ohno walks the short way towards the one-seater sofa there and plops himself there, his head in between his hands as Matsumoto-san watches him.

“I…I-It’s just for a while until I…until I’m certain I could, you know, work properly without ending up getting distracted everytime,” distracted with the memories of Nino there in the office, of the memories of him and Nino kissing against his office door, he wants to say but bites his tongue instead.

“I told you I was going to help –“ Matsumoto-san starts but Ohno waves a hand at him, cutting him off. 

“And I told you thanks but no thanks,” he returns, bile rising in his throat at the thought that this – everything he’s doing is because he wants to accommodate Nino’s request, knowing that he will benefit from it as well. 

“I know you guys mean well, I swear, but let me do this my way this time, okay?” he asks, hoping he doesn’t sound as if he’s begging, but it’s difficult when Matsumoto-san’s gaze – soft, fond, almost too much so – is on him the next time he raises his head. 

“Fine, have it your way,” Matsumoto-san says, in the end, even though he still sounded marginally unconvinced. 

From his peripheral, Ohno vaguely sees Sho’s shoulders slump in defeat.

 

++

Nino’s fingers shake around the glass as he swallows around the emotion trapped in his throat. 

“But he was lying when he said he’d leave in a week,” Aiba continues as if he hadn’t been interrupted by the sound of the miserable whimper escaping Nino’s throat. 

“Because Sakurai-san he’s leaving tomorrow night – Nino? Nino, are you okay?” Aiba asks, hand warm against Nino’s bare arm, shaking him slightly.

Nino nods his head, unconscious of the gesture, then finds himself standing before he realized he’s doing it, lips quivering as he turns around and heads straight to the door.


	21. Chapter 21

It’s only eight when Ohno finds himself walking the familiar streets, his tie loose and dress-shirt untucked. He probably looks like a drunken salaryman on his way home from drinking with his colleagues, but he didn’t bother checking.    
  
Somehow, he just feels so out of it.    
  
He wants to do this right, he really does, but it’s hard. Leaving something so precious to him is hard, despite the fact that he is convinced doing so is the right thing. It’s difficult but Ohno knows it’s the only way.   
  
The streets are filled with people, but Ohno barely notices. He’s standing at the intersection, waiting for the sign to change when his gaze catches something familiar, feeling the way his heart is beating a mile a minute the moment he realized what it is.   
  
_ Oh, God. _   
  
  
++   
  
  
Outside, it’s chilly; it took Nino a while to realize this, his mind pretty much occupied with everything Aiba’s told him earlier, at least until he’s crossed the intersection and finds Ohno standing on the other side of the road.   
  
They both pause, eyes catching; Nino feels the way his heart rattles in his chest, like it is trying to beat its way out at the sight of Ohno, his throat unusually tight and dry as Ohno stands there, looking like he’s contemplating between running away and crossing the walkway to hug Nino.    
  
Nino lowers his gaze and does his best to act casual, though the way his lips quiver as he swallows his emotions down gave him away.   
  
When he raises his head again, something in Ohno’s eyes click and somehow, it looks almost comical when Ohno realized Nino’s not even surprised seeing him there.   
  
Nino isn’t, not really, because he knows this isn’t the first time. Nino’s always known Ohno’s been walking him home ever since he started working night shifts in Stay Gold, though Ohno’s tried his best not to be seen.   
  
But Nino saw him every single time, anyway.   
  
Seeing him here now though is different, because Nino knows there’s an entirely different reason why Ohno is here and why he didn’t even bother hiding when he saw Nino approaching.   
  
Instead, Ohno bravely meets his gaze as if it might be the last, his lips curving into that small, little private smile Nino secretly loves.   
  
They stand there, unmindful of the way the world is revolving around them as they stare at each other from the opposite sides of the road.   
  
It feels like hours has passed when Nino remembers to lower his gaze, catches the sign changing as if on cue and starts walking, slow and deliberate, his and Ohno’s gazes catching briefly again before Nino realizes Ohno has started walking, too. Nino gets into the sidewalk, chest heaving just the slightest bit, knowing that Ohno is walking on the opposite side, watching Nino.    
  
Somehow, the gesture only makes the pathetic feeling inside Nino grows.    
  
What the fuck are they doing, really?   
  
Nino sighs, mentally chastising himself for being hard-headed and stupid. He’s still mad, alright, but isn’t it way easier to just yell at Ohno and tell him he’s the world’s biggest idiot for hurting Nino instead of doing this? Maybe punch him in the face or something, if that’s what he needs to get it over and done with instead of all these stupid craps they keep on putting each other through?   
  
God, they’re acting like a couple of stupid teenagers who don’t know what they want and Nino’s so tired, so very tired of it. Couldn’t they make it easier?    
  
_ Of course, you can _ , _dummy_ , he tells himself, tasting bitterness and something else under his tongue, knowing exactly what it is. _Just go to him and tell him you’ve forgiven him, simple._   
  
Yeah, simple. The trouble is, Nino can’t – won’t – do it.   
  
It’s Nino’s stupid pride, of course, _of course_ , and the fact that he’s scared. Scared that the same thing will happen again because he’s not careful, because he’s being rash. He wasn’t careful before and that’s why all these troubles happened.    
  
Nino’s not that stupid to let the same thing happen twice, at least if he can help it.   
  
But is this really what he wants?   
  
Obviously not. Nino hates it when he’s not being entirely true to himself but it’s hard when his heart is torn between what he wants right now, and what his rational mind is telling him.    
  
On one hand, he’s this close from pivoting around and running to where Ohno is, kiss the shit out of him and tell him to not leave but on the other, he knows it’s what they both need.    
  
Love certainly is a complicated thing.   
  
It sure is, and Nino will be lying if he say what he and Ohno feel for each other is anything but. How can it not be love when they’re both obviously miserable being apart unlike when they were together? How can it not be love when Nino feels the ache of not being able to hold Ohno the way he was able to before, deep down to the marrow of his bones? How can it not be that when the distance separating them isn’t enough for Nino not to notice the way Ohno is covering his heartache with a smile he reserves only for Nino?    
  
If this isn’t love, Nino wonders what else it could be.   
  
He walks and walks, past people and brightly-lit shops without actually seeing anything, his focus entirely on Ohno who is still walking softly along with him on the other side of the road. He goes past the corner he usually turns and keeps walking, vaguely realizing he is shoving his hands into the pockets of his trousers, fishing around for his phone.   
  
He slows down when he reaches the end of the street, halting completely when he realized he is standing in front of a roundabout. He glances around, panicking briefly when he doesn’t see Ohno immediately, and then heaving a sigh of relief when he did.   
  
Ohno’s face is partially hidden, his silhouette the only thing that gave him away. Nino wishes he can see his face, let him know he’s not angry anymore.   
  
It’s when he remembers his phone.   
  
Somehow, it’s a little difficult to convince himself to do it, when it was him who decided on this. But it’s different, he tells himself, letting his fingers hover over the contacts icon and quickly tapping on it before he could talk himself out of it.   
  
He scrolls down, pulse racing, and doesn’t let himself think anymore when he finds Ohno’s name. He taps and taps and taps, quickly typing a message while shoving that nagging voice inside his head aside, throwing caution to the wind and breathing harshly as he taps Send.   
  
_ Good evening, Ohno-san. _   
  
Ohno’s reply comes not even five seconds later.   
  
_ Hi, Nino. _   
  
Nino wonders why the simplicity of that greeting, of seeing Ohno still using his shortened name, is enough to ruin him, feeling his resolve stumble along with the rest of him.    
  
Then again, it’s hardly surprising when he loves Ohno so much it hurts, knowing that Ohno is just there and he can’t cross the short distance separating them because Nino doesn’t allow him to.   
  
_ Aren’t you early tonight?... _ he types, bypassing subtleties. He would, in other times, but not today. He’s got limited time in his hands, and he’s not that stupid to waste it. _Normally, you’ll be standing there by around eleven. It’s only a couple of minutes past eight now, you see._   
  
_I have somewhere I need to be in a few hours_ … is Ohno’s simple reply. He also didn’t bother asking Nino why he’s out this early and for that, Nino is glad.    
  
_And it’s going to take some time before I come back so I figured I should at least come by to say goodbye_ … Ohno’s next message came before Nino even manages to type a reply, fingers shaking.   
  
He honestly has a lot to say but words don’t come out when he needs them. Nino is certain he must have zoned out, only realized he’s done something completely out of character when Ohno’s voice speaking from the other end of the line all of a sudden snaps Nino out of his temporary daze.   
  
Chest heaving, Nino slaps his phone to his left ear and lets the sound of Ohno’s voice wash over him for a second, then two, before he answers.   
  
“H-Hello?”   
  
_ Hey, you okay?... _ Ohno asks, sounding genuinely worried. From a distance, Nino can barely see a thing, can barely make up Ohno’s face in the dark but it doesn’t matter when he can hear Ohno’s voice clearly.    
  
He misses Ohno, and he feels so goddamn helpless standing here in the dark.   
  
“H-How long?” he asks, ignoring that angry voice inside his head again. Shut up, he told it, I still haven’t crossed the line so shut it. “H-How long will you be gone?” he asks, hating the fact that he sounded breathless, maybe a little miserable.    
  
_ Six months or so. Depending on how long it needs to keep the new branch that we’re going to establish there up and running _ ….Ohno says, then, quietly, he adds. _Why do you ask? I thought you said you_ – Ohno pauses here, as if he’s not certain he’s about to say the right words so he has to recalibrate his thoughts first.    
  
_I’m doing this for you, you know?_.... Ohno ended up saying, and Nino honestly feels like weeping. _You told me to wait, so I will. But I…I can’t stay here._   
  
“Why not?” he asks, brusquely. He feels completely stupid afterwards and he hopes Ohno calls him out on it but he knows Ohno won’t.    
  
_You know why_ … Ohno says, and Nino notes the understanding in his voice and underlying tenderness along with it.    
  
“But you don’t have to, right?”   
  
_Only if you tell me you’re willing to take me back_ … Ohno says, and Nino feels himself mentally stalling. _But we both know you won’t, and either way, I’m not going to ask you to._   
  
“O-Ohno-san, I –“   
  
_ I know, you don’t have to tell me. This is even harder for me, you know? But I have to do this. For you. For me, as well. But I know it’s – it’s going to be okay, Nino. Trust me on this one, okay? _   
  
“W-What if you – what if I –“ he says, and he wonders when the tables turned without him knowing it. Now, it certainly feels like he’s the one begging Ohno to stay, but he knows Ohno won’t because it’s Ohno.   
  
And Nino knows Ohno is the stronger one between the two of them, and because Ohno wants to do him right by staying away and by respecting Nino’s wishes.   
  
Nino raises his head and somehow, he’s not at all surprise to find Ohno walking straight to him, slow and sure, his phone still resting against his left ear. Nino can still hear the quiet sounds of air leaving Ohno’s mouth, and Nino’s own growing heavier at the sight of Ohno’s face getting clearer.   
  
Ohno stops when they’re barely two steps away from each other, Nino remembering to put his phone down when Ohno does, too. Then somehow, Nino feels Ohno’s fingers on his face, cupping his jaw and making a quick swipe under Nino’s eyes with his thumb.    
  
Nino doesn’t even realize he’s crying.   
  
“No, don’t do this,” Ohno whispers, and Nino’s heart echoes the sentiment. He wants to say the same thing but his chest feels full and his mouth fuller.    
  
“I – This – No –“ he stutters nonsensically.    
  
“I know,” Ohno repeats, and his fingers stroke Nino’s cheek, soft and tender. Nino hates himself more for knowing he’s craving Ohno’s touch far more than he dares to admit. “But I have to. So be good and let me say goodbye to you while I can, yeah?”   
  
“And if I don’t want you to?” he counters, stubborn. Ohno simply smiles, one that doesn’t reach his eyes and Nino’s heart aches even more at the sight of it, knowing he’s the reason for it.    
  
“Please don’t say that because we both know you don’t mean it,” Ohno says; Nino wants to tell him he’s wrong, but a part of him is saying Ohno is right.    
  
And this is where Nino knows he has to let go. He can’t give Ohno all of him if he’s still reeling from the pain Ohno had unknowingly caused him, and telling Ohno to stay now won’t make a difference. He needs to be sure first, with all of his heart, that it’s what he wants – that Ohno is who he wants no matter the consequences.    
  
“A year,” he whispers, at the same time he reaches up to catch the front of Ohno’s suit, curling his fingers against it. It’s a truce – something he hopes Ohno is willing to take, to try, with him.    
  
Ohno’s fingertip slides against the bottom of Nino’s lip and Nino closes his eyes wishing it’s Ohno’s mouth instead.    
  
“That’s too long,” Ohno says, but his voice sounded raspy, breathy. “Make it seven months.”   
  
“Nine,” he says, as he pulls himself forward, feels Ohno’s arms go around him, settling around his waist. He feels more than see Ohno nods his head in agreement, lips pressing against his neck in a quick but lingering kiss.   
  
Nino gives up trying to pretend he doesn’t want this, pushing his face on Ohno’s shoulder as Ohno does the same, both of them trying to breathe each other in as they hold each other tight, there in the middle of a deserted street.


	22. Chapter 22

  
If Nino has doubts about how their relationship would proceed from then on, it had been effectively wiped away not even a week after Ohno left.   
  
It’s a little amusing, if not overwhelming, knowing that they’re doing something right, fucking finally. For once, Nino is convinced they did the right thing by breaking up (though not entirely) because doing so made them realize the extent of their feelings for one another, the lengths they are both willing to go to just to make sure it will still be the two of them meeting in the end.   
  
It’s honestly kind of wonderful what being away from each other did to them. It’s like they went back to square one, retracing their footsteps back from where they first met and moving forward from then on. It’s amazing how texting each other everytime they are free to do so could do, and Nino will never stop being amazed at how easily it is to fall in love with Ohno all over again, more so now that he’s getting to know Ohno better.   
  
Sometimes, it feels too easy, especially when they’re both online and Nino can pretend Ohno is just in his office in Tokyo and is just too busy to see Nino personally. It’s easier to cover the crack in his voice when Ohno asks about his day, when Ohno tells him he misses him and how he wishes he could kiss Nino right then. Easy, because he could simply mute the conversation or stop the camera just so Ohno won’t have to see how the distance is affecting Nino in return.   
  
But most of the time, it’s hard; especially when his craving for Ohno’s presence intensifies when he’s not available to talk and there’s no way to hear his voice no matter how much Nino wanted to, when he misses Ohno so much that he craves the warmth of his touch, the feel of his hands on Nino’s skin, but has to simply ignore it all.   
  
Five months in and he swear it never gets easier. Though, he’s getting better at pretending he could go on – four months more, he could do it, sure - even though it’s honestly taking all of his willpower not to book the next available flight to Las Vegas to see Ohno, even though he’s this close from saying, ‘Fuck this!’ before begging Ohno to come back, because, well, he wanted this, didn’t he?   
  
He sighs and lets himself inside the apartment, locking the door behind him before toeing off his shoes. He checks his phone and realized it’s already half past three – he still has enough time to prepare before he has to go online and skype Ohno – grumbling to himself as he walks the rest of the way inside.   
  
He checks his phone again and reads Ohno’s last message on LINE before he left work half an hour ago, his heart doing that now all-too-familiar dance in his chest knowing he’ll be seeing Ohno again.   
  
He types, _I’m home_ , and sends it with a smile.   
  
  
++   
  
“Sho-kun, couldn’t you have mentioned this in your email instead?” he asks, at the same time he spies Sho trying to muffle his yawns by slapping a hand over his mouth.   
  
He already feels bad for the other man knowing that it’s probably just about four am in Japan right now – it’s lunch time here in Vegas and he’s waiting for Ms. Sharon to confirm their supposed lunch date at the Hilton Grand around one – and he’s already awake, skype-ing Ohno.   
  
Honestly, it wasn’t Ohno’s idea to wake Sho up so early just to talk to him about the ongoing construction of the Chiba project – he knows he doesn’t have to worry about it when everyone who are involved in that project are competent enough to supervise it on their own – but Sho was insistent.   
  
“I was supposed to, but then I realized it’s a pretty big thing to decide upon and I don’t want you to think that I’m trying to bypass you or anything,” it’s not, but Sho made it sound like it is. He also sounded genuinely sheepish that Ohno would have chuckled at him in response, but figures Sho has his reasons and therefore he should probably just hear him out first.   
  
The only trouble is, Ohno’s scheduled to talk to someone else at this hour, and it’s most definitely not his assistant yawning at him in front of the camera, from the other side of the world. And that someone has been calling him nonstop during the past ten minutes.   
  
His phone vibrates in his hand before he could even answer Sho.   
  
It’s from Nino.   
  
_Why aren’t you answering?,_ asks Nino.   
  
_Sho-kun and I are talking,_ he sends.   
  
_It’s four am, why is your secretary awake at this hour? He should be sleeping. Or dead, whichever is fine so long as he leaves you alone. It’s Nino time now, isn’t it? Tell him that._  
  
He chuckles and sends, _He’s asking my permission about that restaurant in the Chiba project. Apparently, the chef backed out but Sho-kun found a suitable replacement by the help of your boss_., he says.   
  
_Whatever. Tell him to suck it up and sign off before I hack his account, I’m not kidding, I can totally do that. He can ask you about that stupid job-related inquiries later. I need to see your face now or else I won’t be held responsible for filing a leave of absence right about now and booking a return flight to Vegas tonight. He’ll have to answer to Matsumoto-san personally for that if it happens, I swear._  
  
Ohno grins. It’s a wonder what a few months apart could do, for both him and Nino, but he guesses that’s just how it is. Five months later and here they are, sending each other silly messages whenever they could, and flirting with each other on skype almost everytime they have the chance.   
  
_Give me a minute_ , he sends before he raises his head and takes his attention back to Sho.   
  
_Ohno Satoshi, my patience is running thin. I swear to God if you’re not online in a minute, you’re video calling me. On my phone. And I don’t care if it’s hella expensive. You can charge it to your secretary, since it’s his fault._  
  
Ohno laughs; Nino is so funny.   
  
_I don’t mind shelling out money for you, you know that, right?_ ., he sends, then takes his attention back to Sho.   
  
“Sho-kun, it’s okay. I thought we’ve already agreed that you’re in-charge with everything back there while I was gone? Seriously, you don’t have to ask me about these things. I trust your judgement so do what you think is right, okay?”   
  
Sho tilts his head and his upper lip curves into an embarrassed smile. Somehow, Ohno knows what is coming when Sho opens his mouth and says, “I’m dating Matsumoto-san,” as if Ohno has no idea this is the case.   
  
“And?”   
  
“I thought you should know,” Sho says, voice low and too soft. It makes Ohno smile despite himself. “I mean, I know we’ve never actually talked about this because it never came up, but somehow, I’m worried about what you’d think about me dating someone from our rival company.”   
  
“Sho-kun, if in case you’ve forgotten, Nino’s working for that same rival company, too.” He says, finding no real reason to point it except for the fact that Sho probably hasn’t realized it. He shakes his head and finds another message from Nino.   
  
_Really? So, like, I can ask you to get me a flight to Vegas first thing tomorrow morning and you will?_  
  
He grins, heart pounding. Is Nino asking what he thinks Nino’s asking him?   
  
_You just have to say the word, Nino; I’ll even take care of Matsumoto-san for you, I promise_ , he sends.   
  
“But Ninomiya-san isn’t the owner of Stay Gold, Matsumoto-san is,” Sho says, taking Ohno’s attention away from Nino briefly.   
  
“Same difference, Sho-kun,” he says, his patience running low. God, he’s so tempted to end the video call with Sho right now just so he could call Nino, hear Nino’s voice. “Anyway, listen, so you’re dating Matsumoto-san, fine, it’s cool. I’m cool with that, so long as you promise me that you’re never leaving me to join his company, like Nino did. I mean, dating is fine but you’re mine, okay? Tell Matsumoto-san that. Anyway, I have to go. I’ll talk to you later. Go back to sleep, Sho-kun.” He tells Sho without pause, and then ending the call before Sho can even utter another word.   
  
When he looks down, he finds another message from Nino.   
  
It says, _Okay, Oh-chan_ , and Ohno swears his heartbeat stops.   
  
Fingers shaking, he sends, _Okay? What okay? What do you mean?_   
  
_Fly me to Vegas. I want to see you._  
  
_What, you’re serious? You want to come here? To visit me? If you’re joking Nino_ – he sends, before he even completes his sentence. Crap, he’s shaking all the fuck over.   
  
_I’m serious. I want to see you, I really do. I missed you so much._  
  
_But there’s four more months and_ – he types, then promptly deletes it when he realized how dumb it sounds like; he doesn’t want Nino to think he’s the one having second thoughts.   
  
God, Ohno feels like crying, and screaming but he holds himself. Shaking, he sends, _You can’t take that back, okay? Send me the copy of your passport and I’ll take care of the rest. I’ll fly you here as soon as I can, Nino._   
  
_Please make it happen. And soon. I don’t think I can make it another week without seeing you in person, Oh-chan._  
  
_Three days,_ he sends, adding, _Just give me three days, Nino._   
  
_Three days_ , Nino agrees.   
  
_Yes. God, I love you_ , he sends.   
  
_I will only believe you if you tell me that in person_ .   
  
He smiles, feels his heart skipping all over the place as he holds his phone tenderly in between his shaking fingers, wishing it is Nino’s face instead.   
  
_I will_ , he sends, and it’s a promise he knows he’s going to keep.

 

++

 

_ You do know this is against company policy, right _ ?, Matsumoto barks from the other end, obviously planning on making things difficult for Ohno but Ohno has a few tricks of his own to shut him up.    
  
“Oh, so you want to talk about company policies now, is that it?” he asks, “Hold on a minute while I call my assistant; I believe there are a few company policies I have specifically looked over just for him so –“ he follows, then hits Skype call for show. He lets Matsumoto-san hear it, just to be a dick. He’s certain Sho isn’t going to answer – he’s offline and is probably on his way to meet the jerk he’s talking to on the phone right now.   
  
_ You’re a fucking prick, Samii-kun, I hope you know that _ , Matsumoto-san counters before Ohno is able to finish his sentence. He smirks, despite the fact that Matsumoto-san can’t see him, knowing that he’s won.    
  
“Call me anything you want, Gold-Face, I don’t fucking care. Just give Ninomiya-san the approval he needs and I won’t bother you for anything else. You’re lucky I still haven’t asked him to resign because I know that he will, but I’m doing it more out of the goodness of my heart and for your sake as well. I swear you’re making it so easier for me to do just that.“   
  
_ I don’t know what crap you keep on feeding your ego but it sure as hell is too much! God, I swear I don’t know what Ninomiya-san ever see in you, you’re a fucking dick, that’s what you are, Samii-kun,  _ Matsumoto-san grunts, with feelings, and Ohno huffs back at him.   
  
“The same goes for my Assistant, asshole,” he says, laughing. “You’re just a dick with a pretty face so I really don’t know what in hell you fed Sho-kun that he ended up letting you date him exclusively. It’s scary, if I think about it.”   
  
_ Then don’t _ , Matsumoto-san counters, laughing, too. _My relationship with Sho-san is none of your business_.   
  
“As is my relationship with Nino,” he snips.    
  
_ I have nothing against your relationship with Ninomiya-san either, but he’s my employee and therefore it is my right to decide whether I should let him go for a sudden vacation when he hasn’t even completed six months with us  _ –   
  
“Let him go or I’ll rain hell on you, Matsumoto!” he snarks, only half-meaning it. Matsumoto-san laughs, loud and boisterous, and Ohno swears he’d probably ended up bitch-slapping the man if he happens to be right in front of Ohno.    
  
His phone pings as if on cue, and Ohno finds an email from Sho. He ignores Matsumoto-san muttering on the other end about ungrateful people in favor of opening the email and grinning.   
  
It’s a forwarded mail from Stay Gold’s HR, and when Ohno taps on the attachment, he realizes it’s an Emergency Leave Form for Nino, signed and stamped by Matsumoto Jun.   
  
“I swear I’m going to get you one day for being so fucking annoying,” he tells Matsumoto-san with all the seriousness he could muster, despite the difficulty. He can’t stop grinning, and he swears Matsumoto-san can tell that he is, even though he couldn’t see him.    
  
_ You’re welcome, Samii-kun _ , Matsumoto-san says, as if he knows exactly what happened, as if he knows Ohno has just received the forwarded form. He probably already does, knowing him, and Ohno is so grateful he feels like crying.    
  
_ Just make sure to bring my favorite employee back home in one piece or I’m seriously going to be pissed, just saying. _   
  
Ohno huffs and tells Matsumoto-san he’s a dick, allows Matsumoto-san exactly five seconds to tell him he’s the bigger dick in return, grins, and hangs up.   
  
  
++   
  
  
“Okay, Ms. Sharon, I appreciate it, thank you very much.” Ohno says, smiling to himself before he hangs up; he can’t help the excitement rising in his chest knowing that it’s finally happening.   
  
He leans back on his chair and let the realization sink in.    
  
He’ll be seeing Nino in a few days, and he can’t wait.   
  
His phone vibrates, notifying him of an incoming mail. The same thing Ms. Sharon told him earlier, apparently. The details of Nino’s itinerary.    
  
Ohno taps on the new mail and grins, can’t not, scrolls down to check its content one more time before tapping on it twice and forwarding everything to Nino’s email.    
  
Truthfully, he was afraid that the date he asked her to check is no longer possible, given the short notice, but Ms. Sharon sure knows how to work wonders. She was able to do something about Nino’s visa before the day ends, and was also able to finalize the details of Nino’s flight before the night is over.   
  
Afterwards, he types a quick message to Sho, telling him to kindly take care of all the necessary arrangements for Ms. Sharon’s scheduled trip and stay in Japan the following week – he was told she’s a huge fan of Arashi, and had planned this trip ahead of time to watch their concert so he wants to make sure she enjoys her stay – to show his gratitude.   
  
He promised her free stay in any of his hotel’s branch of her choice before but after her amazing job securing Nino a visa and return flight in such short amount of time, Ohno is more than willing to upgrade the offer with free tours, flight to and from any destination of her choice around Japan, and even backstage greeting with Arashi members should Sho manage to schedule one before her trip.   
  
He sighs and stares at the phone in his hands, realizes it’s only seven; it should be around noon in Japan right now, he thinks, biting the insides of his cheek – he’s itching to call Nino and tell him the good news, but hesitates knowing Nino might still be asleep – he probably is because he hasn’t messaged Ohno yet, but, well, fuck it.    
  
He taps on the call icon and dials Nino’s number, slapping his phone against his left ear hoping against hope Nino’s already awake.    
  
  
+   
  
Nino’s voice is pleasantly husky when he answers and Ohno has to give himself a couple of minutes to recover before he greets Nino back. There’s that familiar thudding in his chest hearing Nino’s voice and he swears he’s never going to get used to the way Nino catches him off-guard everytime just by talking, by smiling, by simply being _himself_.   
  
He loves Nino. Ohno can admit that fact easily, because he does. He’s never met anyone with such perfect imperfection like Nino does, someone who gets him for he is and loves him just the same. He’s certain he won’t ever find someone who could make his heart tremble with just the sound of his name stumbling out of that person’s lips the way Nino can, and Ohno is glad.    
  
He loves Nino so much, really.   
  
_ “Please tell me you’re planning on sleeping, at least _ ,” Nino says, sounding mildly exasperated, if not fond, once he’s done telling Nino about the details of his flight, which he is certain Nino has already seen.    
  
“It’s only nine,” he says, not really answering Nino’s question with a pout. He wants to talk to Nino some more, even though he probably needs to let Nino go at some point.    
  
_ “Is that a no?” _ Nino asks, but he sounded like he’s laughing. Ohno finds himself smiling too.    
  
“I just want to know your reaction,” he says, “when you see the mail.”   
  
_ “Then you should have called on Skype _ ,” Nino says.   
  
“Ah, you’re right,” he says, remembering. He’s tapping on his laptop’s keyboard to wake it up as he hears shuffling sounds from the other end. “Hang on.”   
  
_ “I was kidding!” _   
  
“Eh?”   
  
_ “Don’t call yet, I still haven’t opened my email _ ,” Nino tells him; Ohno notes the way Nino’s voice is breaking when he talks.    
  
“Nino, are you okay?”   
  
_ “Yes!” _   
  
Ohno doesn’t believe him. “Let me see you,” he says, dropping his voice when he hears the sound of Nino’s quiet hiccups, throat tight as he tries to imagine Nino right now. He wants to kiss him, he wants to hold him tight, let Nino knows he loves him and that he’s willing to do absolutely everything for Nino.    
  
_ “In a minute,” _ Nino says, and Ohno shuts his eyes, helpless. Then, after a long beat, Nino says, _“Oh-chan, is this real?”_   
  
“What is?”   
  
Another snuffling sound. _“It says my flight leaves tonight, oh my god, is this for real?”_   
  
Ohno smiles despite the ache in his chest. “Yes. I had someone work on getting you that flight as soon as you told me you want to visit me. And she managed to. Sorry it’s not in the Business Class; she would have booked you in one if available but –“   
  
_ “Oh my god, the visa, too?” _   
  
“Yes, she’s amazing like that and also –“   
  
_ “But what about my job? I haven’t even talked to HR, and I don’t really know if they will – OH MY GOD, THERE’S AN EMAIL FROM HR?!” _   
  
Ohno grins in answer; it’s hard not to when Nino is half-freaking out and half-crying, probably because of shock, Ohno can’t tell.    
  
“I told you I’ll take care of everything, right?” he says, and it’s really difficult not to wish Nino is here so he can hold him, kiss him.    
  
Nino says nothing after that, and Ohno simply contents himself with the sounds Nino makes, muffled though they may be. His heart aches but it’s not the usual kind that hurts him, knowing that this time, it’s because his heart isn’t able to contain the happiness that loving Nino brings.   
  
  
++   
  
One hour before Nino’s flight landed, he’s already there.    
  
Fifteen hours of waiting couldn’t compare to the two hours he had managed to get through, and he swears that as the minutes tick by, the funny feeling settling in his stomach is getting worse.    
  
He’d been standing up for the better part of the past half hour, pacing back and forth to check the monitor showing the flight schedules. He feels like he wants to pee but he doesn’t want to leave; what if Nino arrives and he’s not there?    
  
That would be bad, oh, oh – Ohno’s thought halting to an abrupt stop when he catches a familiar slouch, an equally familiar face that brings uncontrollable shivers to Ohno’s spine the second his eyes settle on it.    
  
He walks, then continues walking before breaking into a half-run the moment Nino’s gaze catches him, his heart pounding hard in his chest watching Nino doing the same.


	23. Chapter 23

Fifteen hours and two draining flights later, he’s finally in Vegas.  
  
Nino mechanically goes through airport security, tired and totally sleep-deprived. Even so, he doesn’t let it stop him from quickly navigating towards the arrival area with his small luggage and backpack, heart full and his hands damp in anticipation.   
  
It’s a relatively long walk to the arrival exit and Nino would have normally complained about it if his brain’s not currently occupied. He’s looking forward to seeing Ohno so badly that his brain developed this nasty habit of associating Ohno to every Japanese face he sees, and making his walk around the airport in search of the fucking arrival exit even more aggravating.  
  
And it doesn’t help at all that he stupidly forgot to charge his phone once he boarded the plane from LA to Vegas. He’d totally ignored it in favor of playing his DS to pass the time, and when he did realize it was completely drained was when he tried to turn it the second they were allowed to earlier.  
  
Now he has no idea where Ohno is. He’s certain Ohno will be the one to pick him up, he said so himself when Nino asked him before he left Japan, after all – but that’s it. He can’t call Ohno to verify where he should meet him, and he’s afraid he'd end up freaking Ohno out since there’s no way to answer any of his messages to Nino, too.  
  
Of all the goddamn time to fuck up, really.  
  
He rounded the corner and spots a large crowd gathering outside, some are obviously hotel employees holding up several print-out names in mid-air, and Nino knows he’s at the right place.   
  
He glances up and somehow catches a painfully familiar face in the midst of all that chaos, his heart skipping pleasantly inside his chest the second their gazes meet.  
  
Nino watches Ohno as he backs away from the crowd without taking his gaze away from Nino, turns to his side, points towards the same direction Nino is heading and starts walking.  
  
Nino does the same, and somehow finds it inevitable to break into a half run the second Ohno did the same.  
  
  
++  
  
They are finally face to face when they stop, and Nino finds that the world seems to slow down the moment they do, and he is staring straight into Ohno’s eyes raking him from head to toe.  
  
This close, Nino notes the few distinct differences he finds on Ohno, like how his hair looks longer than Nino remembers it to be from the last time he saw it. How Ohno’s skin is darker, the bags under his eyes more prominent. Nino also notices that Ohno has lost a lot of weight, and it is evident in the way his suit seems two sizes too big on him at the moment.   
  
But even despite those, he still looks so damn fine that the sight of him is enough to make Nino’s mouth water, his fingers itch to touch when he sees the corners of Ohno’s lips turn up into a smile.   
  
They both step forward, but Nino is the one who stops. He sees Ohno hesitates, but only for a moment, before he steps right in and pulls Nino into his arms.   
  
“Nino,” Ohno breathes into his hair, against the side of his temple, and Nino finds himself nodding in answer. He’s shaking, and he doesn’t realize that he is until Ohno’s arms tighten around him.   
  
“O-Oh-chan, hi,” he croaks, throat too tight to speak. He can’t move, and he swears this is where he should be considering things, like whether he’s hugging Ohno back or kissing the shit out of him knowing that he might do both and scandalize Ohno in the process.   
  
God, can they even do that here? In public? He can’t think but hell, he wants to do so badly that it honestly terrifying how much he does.   
  
It’s Ohno who addresses what Nino can’t. “I can kiss you right here,” he says, breath warm and oh-so-achingly familiar against Nino’s cheek. Nino shivers and finds his fingers gripping the edges of Ohno’s suit jacket tightly, and only vaguely aware about his belongings missing.   
  
“It’s probably best if you don’t,” he says, laughing, because if he doesn’t then he’ll probably cry. He honestly doesn’t want to scare Ohno away by doing so, so he’s going to hold the stupid tears back, while he can.   
  
“But I want to,” Ohno says, working his fingers around the back of Nino’s head, holding Nino in place. Nino closes his eyes at the first, warm touch of Ohno’s lips to his temple, then to his left eye, hard and lingering, before Ohno pulls away just far enough to stare at Nino.  
  
“Won’t you alert the airport security if you do that?” he asks, one-part curious and two-parts indifferent.   
  
“Do you want to find out?” Ohno counters with a smile, and it’s so tempting Nino finds himself licking his lips quietly in answer.  
  
It’s Ohno who backs away, face devoid with emotion even though his eyes are brimming with so much more. It’s Ohno who mutters, “No, fuck let’s go,” under his breath and takes Nino’s hand in his but not before ducking down to retrieve Nino’s belongings in haste.   
  
Nino doesn’t realize they are walking again until they do, his attention darting between Ohno’s hand gripping his, and how Ohno is mumbling, “If I kiss you here, I’ll never be able to stop. So no, let’s get out of here first.”  
  
Nino smiles and tightens his grip against Ohno’s hand holding his, and follows Ohno’s lead.  
  
++  
  
They reached the taxi queue like fifteen minutes later and Ohno shoves Nino inside the next available one there. Ohno goes right after him, barks an address to the taxi driver, turns, shoves Nino’s bag on the floor and tugs Nino in.  
  
Nino’s protests die in his lips the moment Ohno’s mouth catches his, Ohno’s hand possessive around the back of Nino’s head. Ohno’s lips are chapped and he tastes vaguely of mint and tobacco when his tongue pushes its way in between Nino’s lips for a quick taste.   
  
Nino’s so shocked to even remember to kiss back, eyes wide, as he watches Ohno pulls back with a fairly satisfied smile.   
  
Then Ohno reaches to thumb the corner of Nino’s lips, chaste and tender, his eyes dark with intent.  
  
“That’s good enough for now,” Ohno whispers, meaning it, before shifting comfortably on the seat and worming an arm around Nino’s hips.   
  
Nino is honestly stunned to say anything, so he just settles on pushing his face into Ohno’s chest to hide how embarrassed he is, feels Ohno’s chin digging softly against his scalp as Ohno hums a familiar tune under his breath.

 

+

 

The under an hour drive to Ohno’s apartment from the airport feels like the longest ride Ohno had done in his life, and it was only marginally bearable because Nino was with him.

He couldn’t stop himself from dropping soft kisses to Nino’s hair whenever he felt like it, from touching Nino, holding him close, and enjoying the way Nino had settled comfortably against him in answer, Nino’s fingers alternating between squeezing Ohno’s waist and gripping Ohno’s dress shirt.

There’s that unspoken need buzzing between them and Ohno tried his best to keep his own under control.

Once they reached the apartment, though, it was a completely different story. Ohno realized Nino had somehow fallen asleep during the last few minutes of the ride, most probably because of exhaustion, and Ohno had to practically carry Nino out of the taxi, thanking the driver for immediately helping Ohno with Nino’s belongings as Ohno struggled to get them both inside the apartment. 

He’d at least managed to get Nino to the couch, setting him down and kissing his forehead before he goes back to check if he’d locked the door and also to bring Nino’s luggage and bag inside. 

When he gets back inside, Nino looks somewhat marginally awake and is blinking at Ohno from his position on the couch. Nino jerks when Ohno is close enough, as if he just realized something.

“O-Oh-chan, where –“

Ohno ducks down and cups Nino’s cheek, presses their mouths together for a softer, tamer kiss. Nino sighs into it, mouths parting just the slightest bit, his exhaustion evident in the way he’s slow in responding and Ohno’s heart aches for him. 

There are so many things he wants do now that Nino is here – kiss him, hold him, strip him and make love to him all night – but those can wait. 

He pulls back and thumbs Nino’s bottom lip gently with one hand, holding the base of Nino’s skull tenderly with the other. He drops another kiss to Nino’s eyes, noting the dark shadows beneath them as he does so.

“In my apartment,” he says, hearing Nino’s exhausted hums. “You were a little out of it earlier, I think you didn’t even hear it when I told the driver where we’re going.”

“Hmm, I thought I’ll be staying in Stay Gold during my stay here –“

“Did your boss tell you that?” he asks, cutting Nino off; “Sorry, but that’s not going to happen while you’re here.”

“You’re staying with me, end of discussion.” He finishes. Nino hums, eyes closing on their own and shaking his head. Ohno smiles despite himself, kissing Nino’s hair before ducking down to worm his arms around Nino. Nino hums sleepily again, then somehow gets his arms around Ohno’s neck as Ohno lifts Nino up. 

Nino harrumphs, surprised, but too sleepy to argue as Ohno turns them around. 

He smiles when the next thing Nino does is to rain tiny kisses over his face. Doing so seems to require a lot of work from Nino’s side and Ohno giggles, can’t not, when, at Nino’s attempt to kiss him on the mouth ends up with Nino licking Ohno’s nose instead.

“Nino, stop slobbering all over me,” he teases, before helping himself with a hard kiss that leaves Nino whining. “Seriously, not nice.”

“You should let me shower first,” Nino says, more like slurs, and Ohno feels the offer so damn tempting, knowing the underlying meaning beneath it. But even despite it all, despite the irresistible pull of desire throbbing in between them, Ohno can’t, won’t do it.

Ohno will lie if he says he’s not looking forward to have Nino naked and purring beneath him, but with the looks of it, he’s certain he won’t go past removing Nino’s pants only to find Nino already snoring under him.

He kicks the door open and lets Nino whine against him when he squeezes Nino in answer. They’re by the bed when he says, “Later,” putting Nino down as softly as he could manage it, then pressing a soft but firm kiss to his forehead before he pulls away.

Nino opens his mouth to protest, because he’s Nino. “But –“ but Ohno is quick to quiet him with another kiss, before he slowly situates himself next to Nino on the bed, working one of his arms under Nino’s head and pulling Nino closer to him with the other. 

They are touching from head to toe when he pulls back, softly rearranging Nino until he’s certain Nino is comfortable. Then, with another kiss to Nino’s forehead, he strokes Nino’s cheek and smiles. 

“For now, we sleep, okay? You’re tired. We can shower and eat and talk once you’ve had some sleep.”

Nino’s eyes are already closing when Ohno said this,  so instead of arguing, Nino simply snuggles closer to him in answer, digging his nose into the dip of Ohno’s throat and humming a distinct, “I miss you, Oh-chan,” under his breath.

Ohno pulls Nino in, kisses the top of his head once, twice, arm branding around Nino as Nino settles, throwing one of his legs over Ohno’s own and trapping Ohno there.

Ohno doesn’t mind, not at all, and settles on listening to every little breath Nino makes, letting the feel of Nino’s body molded against his own lull him further into sleep.

Ohno is certain he’s out like a light the moment Nino starts snoring against him.

++

“Hey, wake up,” 

Ohno gradually blinks the sleepiness away, realizes he’s being poked repeatedly on the cheek, with Nino sitting on him quite literally. He hums, his arms settling on Nino’s hips as Nino chuckles and ducks down to bite him lightly on the chin.

“Ouch,” he complains, half-heartedly.

“Are you up?”

“No,” he says, but the way he is pulling Nino to him to flip their positions over completely contradicts this. He’s totally awake now, and man, what a perfect way to start the day – or night, whatever – with Nino lying motionless beneath him, looking so much better than how Ohno remembers him to be.

This close, Ohno is able to see those almost untraceable changes on Nino from the last time Ohno saw him. His hair is longer, his bangs almost covering his forehead; even those prominent bags under his eyes looks darker, his body lighter, but he is smiling at Ohno like he’s glad Ohno is here.

“Hi,” he says, touching Nino’s lips. Nino smiles and leans further into his hand, willing and pliant as Ohno studies his face. He misses Nino so much, so damn much he feels it down to the marrow of his bones. 

“Welcome to Las Vegas,” he adds, and grins when Nino turns to bite his fingertip. 

“Isn’t it a little too late for that?” Nino asks.

Ohno shakes his head and moves to the bed so that he’s no longer trapping Nino with his weight. 

“Nothing’s ever too late if you mean it,” he says, shifting just so he’s once again on his side and he’s facing Nino. Nino does the same, tugging at Ohno’s arm which Ohno willingly gave him to use as a pillow.

Nino giggles. “What total nonsense are you going on about now?” he asks, and Ohno feels like kissing him. He doesn’t though, because morning (or evening, whatever) breath, ugh – and settles on grabbing one of Nino’s hands and kissing the backs of it instead. 

“It means I missed you a lot and I’m glad you’re here,” he answers, beaming, and Nino shakes his head at him. 

Then, without a word, Nino reaches up and holds Ohno’s cheek in his hand, before thumbing on Ohno’s jaw. 

“Me too, Oh-chan,” Nino whispers, his voice low and shaky, and Ohno loves him so much in that moment that he has to kiss Nino or else he’ll go crazy. 

Letting out a sound that is part-wanting and equal-parts determined, he goes on for a quick dive, aiming for Nino’s mouth and stops.

“What?” Nino pants, eyes glued on Ohno’s mouth.

Ohno grins, sheepish, and pats his currently gurgling stomach in answer.

“Food?” 

Nino rolls his eyes at him but he does get up with him when Ohno offers his hand for Nino to take. 

“You’re unbelievable,” Nino says.

Ohno knows that he is, but it’s okay because right now, they have time. Ohno won’t rush things now knowing that Nino is here, with him, where Ohno wants him to be. Ohno will take his sweet time with Nino, even if doing so is going to be the hardest thing Ohno will have to do, but for Nino, he’ll do it.

He lost Nino once because of his stupidity, and he swears he won’t let it happen again. He had to make it through the past five months without Nino, so he promised he’ll cherish every moment he has with Nino once they’re together. 

And that’s exactly what he wants to do – what he’s doing. 

“I’ll take advantage of you later, I promise,” he says, tugging Nino in and squeezing him. 

“At least until you’re properly fed and is strong enough to take advantage of me in return, how’s that?”

Nino giggles, then does something that makes something in Ohno’s gut tight, by letting his hands drop on Ohno’s butt for a quick grope. 

“Oh, you don’t say,” Nino mumbles, with feelings. “Does that mean I get to fuck you against your sink while you wash your dishes or is that too much to ask?”

Ohno grins and lets his arousal known by jerking his hips against Nino’s own. Nino gasps, his eyes turning several shades darker as he holds Nino steady, licking his lips wet.

“Definitely too much because if there’s anyone who’s going to get fucked against any surface, it’s obviously not going to be me.”

Nino’s lips turn up challengingly, like he knows what he heard and is obviously looking forward to it. Ohno feels his cheeks heat up at the sight, knowing he has more or less an hour to keep it in his pants until he has Nino squirming and screaming deliciously beneath him.

But until then…

“Let’s order in, then,” he says, leading Nino out of the bedroom in haste. “Anything you want. Then we hit the shower separately, because I swear I don’t trust myself enough not to end up fucking you there once I see you naked. And I want to be ready for that.”

Nino doesn’t answer but the way he ducks down and smiles softly in answer as Ohno leads them outside tells him Nino is ready.

And Ohno honestly can’t wait.


	24. Chapter 24

They spend the first fifteen minutes out of the bedroom touring Ohno’s relatively smaller Vegas apartment hand in hand, before Ohno seemed to have remembered something and offers him coffee.    
  
Nino says nothing in return, but the way he turns to nuzzle Ohno’s chin would have to be a dead give away for how damn touched he is that Ohno remembers how he functions better once he's had coffee, fingers finding Ohno’s hip to hold on to as Ohno lead him back to the direction of the kitchen.    
  
In there, Nino finds it inevitably hard to take his gaze off of Ohno. During the ten minutes interim, of Ohno waiting for the coffeemaker to work it’s magic and calling the restaurant of his choice for dinner, Nino simply sits there, behind Ohno’s counter, watching Ohno.   
  
Ohno might have been asking him something about Nino's preferred dinner but Nino is too busy trying not to jump over the counter and strip Ohno naked to even bother.    
  
Ohno smiles, as if he can’t help it, and Nino watches as he puts his phone down and turns around to check if the coffee is ready. Nino stares, throat dry, and if a half-whine, half-whimper sound escapes the back of his throat as he looks Ohno over from behind, he won’t ever say it.    
  
The divine smell of coffee hitting his nostrils is what snatches his attention away from Ohno’s ass, half-grateful and equal-parts frustrated as he takes the offered mug.   
  
“Food will be here in twenty minutes,” Ohno says, and Nino watches him round the way from behind the counter to settle on the stool next to the one Nino is sitting at.    
  
“I’m not really that hungry,” he says, eyes somehow ending up on Ohno’s mouth. Crap.   
  
Ohno grins, and it’s the one that honestly makes Ohno look somewhat boyish, sheepish, and so much younger than his age. It’s that smile where one corner of his lips turns upwards and his tongue licks that same side in one, quick swipe; the sight make things in Nino’s belly tight that he has to literally hold himself back before he ends up dragging Ohno to him by his collar and kissing the air off his lungs through his mouth.   
  
Ohno shifts and somehow his hand finds Nino’s cheek, his thumb swiping the underside of Nino’s eyes tenderly.    
  
“Quit looking at me like that,” Ohno whispers, though he doesn’t sound the slightest bit upset; he does seem to be having enough trouble controlling himself as it is, and Nino knows he’s not exactly making things easier for either of them.    
  
“I’m trying my best here, Nino, and seeing the way you look at me right now is seriously not helping,”   
  
He leans forward and drops all pretenses by letting his fingers work their way to the side of Ohno’s neck, finding Ohno’s ear and stroking it. Ohno shivers involuntarily in response and Nino wishes he could make Ohno forget about dinner now that he’s all too ready to pounce.   
  
But, compromise, yes, he remembers that all too well as he closes his eyes and kisses the side of Ohno’s mouth lightly in quiet apology. Then he turns to nuzzle Ohno’s cheek, smiles when Ohno’s hand finds Nino’s hip and squeezes it softly, possessively, in answer.   
  
“I’m sorry,” he says, smiles as he rubs their noses together.   
  
Ohno chuckles and kisses Nino’s temple before he pulls away, turning his attention to his coffee but keeping his other hand where it is.   
  
Nino does the same, and together, they let the moment pass, sipping their coffees in silence.   
  
++   
  
Dinner, as expected, is a quiet affair.    
  
Ohno seems to be enjoying his food, immensely so, judging with the noises he kept on making after each and every bite. Nino, surprisingly, does too. The hamburger tastes like nothing he’d ever tried in Japan and he tells Ohno that after the first bite.    
  
Ohno simply smiles and leans over to kiss him, which promptly makes Nino blush despite everything Ohno's already done. Ohno then sweetly asks him to share, with which Nino returns with a smile and tells Ohno no. Ohno raises an eyebrow at him, and watches him eat, beaming like a child on Chrismas morning when he pushes his unfinished plate, letting Ohno finish the rest of it.   
  
An hour later, he is stepping out of the shower (Ohno hit the shower first) with only Ohno’s spare towel wrapped around his waist, his hair still damp and his skin glistening wet, Ohno waiting for him on the bed.    
  
Ohno sits on the edge when he spots Nino coming out of the shower, their gazes meet before he beckons Nino over. Nino doesn’t even hesitate as he walks the few steps over, mentally despairing about Ohno’s chosen wardrobe.    
  
Ohno’s simply has a bathrobe on, but still, clothes. Nino doesn’t want Ohno wearing any, not right now or at least not in the next couple of hours, or not until Nino is done with him.   
  
When he’s close enough, he ducks down and kisses Ohno’s head, fingers finding Ohno’s shoulders for support as Ohno’s own finds Nino’s hips.   
  
“Why – “ he says, “are you wearing clothes? You’re way too dressed for this, don’t you think?” he complains, just because he can. Ohno chuckles and allows Nino to settle on his lap as Ohno’s hand work from the small of Nino’s back to the base of Nino’s spine.    
  
“It’s just a robe,” Ohno says, by way of explanation, as Nino absently shoves the fabric on the front apart. Ohno chuckles and helps Nino by undoing the tie. “And I was trying to be polite,”   
  
Nino hums. “I don’t care, and you don’t have to be,” Nino says, hotly, against Ohno’s ear. “Fuck knows I’ve been waiting so long for this.”   
  
“You sure know how to talk dirty, it’s a little terrifying,” Ohno says, quickly bracketing his arms around Nino’s waist, until Nino has no other choice but to sit on Ohno’s lap. Ohno quickly maneuvers them towards the center of the bed, Ohno pushing himself quite spectacularly despite Nino’s added weight.    
  
“I can do more than talk dirty,” he says, and he is only vaguely worried about how they should do this. On one hand, Nino wonders if Ohno prefers to talk their previous troubles out knowing how not doing so almost broke them apart for real, but on the other, Nino knows there’s no need for it.    
  
The months they spent apart had made talking to each other easy, and Nino has never quite learned so much about a person the way he did so with Ohno during the months they spent just talking to each other.    
  
Ohno picks Nino up as if Nino weighs nothing, then promptly turns them over until Nino is the one on his back on the bed.    
  
“I know you can,” Ohno says, grasping Nino’s jaw lightly and ducking down for a proper kiss, which Nino returns wholeheartedly. He’s gasping by the time Ohno has his tongue shoved down Nino’s throat, fingers worming around Ohno’s head and tugging at Ohno’s hair.   
  
“But God, please not too much or I might end up embarrassing myself in the process,” Ohno says, once he lets up for air. Nino pants into Ohno’s cheek, his lips feel full and bruised, as he pulls Ohno to him.    
  
Ohno curses as if on cue, and Nino is only confused for a moment until Ohno’s hand – rough and familiarly hot to the touch – is on Nino’s bare leg, palm skimming Nino’s cold skin up tenderly.    
  
“God, you feel so – soft,” Ohno says, kissing Nino again before Nino can think of anything sensible to answer, tongue curling against Nino’s own. Somehow, despite the debilitating need thundering under Nino’s skin, he is still able to command his hands to work, enough to undress Ohno fully. Ohno seems inadequately aware about anything at the moment, so long as he is kissing Nino, his hands busy touching Nino all over, so Nino is left with no choice but to pick up where Ohno’s left off.    
  
Soon they are skin to skin, and Nino is just all too glad to touch Ohno right back with equal fervor, need thrumming beneath his fingertips as Ohno turns his attention to Nino’s neck, sucking marks to Nino’s collarbones, to his jaw.    
  
Nino keens; Ohno seems to like the sound Nino made so he did it again, this time, he did it to one of Nino’s nipple, while Ohno tugs at the other.    
  
“Fuck, Oh-chan –“ Nino pants, catching Ohno’s face in between his hands and roughly pulling Ohno’s face away from his chest. Ohno whines but otherwise complied, licking his lips and looking at Nino like he’s two seconds away from wriggling out of Nino’s grasp so he could go back into sucking Nino’s nipple and thus driving Nino crazy with sensation.   
  
“What?” Ohno asks, voice husky with need.    
  
Nino touches Ohno’s face, his own feels hot as he whispers, “Supplies,” he says, “Please tell me you have them.” he asks, addressing his concerns now that he can still think, let alone speak. Ohno sure looks like he’s way past both but that’s probably arguable.    
  
But then Ohno smiles in answer, and promptly ducks down to kiss the corner of Nino’s lips and pulls himself up and off the bed, and pulls the drawer next to the bed, open. When he gets back to bed, Nino is so ready for him, heart thudding hard in his chest as he welcomes Ohno’s comforting weight above him, mouth already parted for Ohno when Ohno leans down to kiss him.   
  
“Are you sure about this?” Ohno asks, as if he can’t not, and Nino loves him so, so much.   
  
He tugs at Ohno’s ears and pulls him down, kisses his gorgeous lips and whispers,    
  
“God, do you even need to ask?”   
  
Ohno smiles. “Just checking.”   
  
“Fine,” he agrees, “now kiss me again.”   
  
Ohno does so, willingly.

 

++

It honestly feels like Ohno’s fingers are everywhere, against the nape of his neck, on his thighs, in between his lips.    
  
Nino’s certain that it’s just him, because there’s no way Ohno is capable of touching every goddamn inch of him at once, but it sure feels like it. He’s burning up from the inside, and it doesn’t help that Ohno’s kisses feel like they're trails of scalding marks being left on Nino's skin.   
  
“G-God, Nino –“ Ohno hisses, and Nino feels teeth digging softly into the skin of his navel, hard enough that Nino felt it, but still soft enough for it to leave any permanent marks. Nino keens; he’s not sure how long Ohno’s been taunting him, teasing him like this, but if the continuous build-up of heat around his thighs isn’t enough indication that he’s been aroused for so long, then he’s not sure what else is.   
  
“P-Please,” he begs, fingers finding Ohno’s hair, tugging on the strands lightly. Ohno hisses, in combined pain and arousal, letting Nino’s fingers direct him where Nino wants him. They’re face to face again when Nino opens his eyes, mouth already parted for Ohno as Ohno ducks down and kisses him.    
  
When they part for air, Nino is all ready to beg again. Ohno’s touch is taunting him, and the heat slithering its way under his skin is enough to drive him crazy.   
  
Ohno’s hand finds Nino’s face, his eyes dark as they gaze into Nino’s own. There’s question brimming behind them, and Nino feels like laughing. God, Ohno is ridiculous.   
  
“What do you want?” Ohno asks, like he needs Nino to assure him it’s okay, that Nino needs this too. His thumb slides over Nino’s bottom lip, gently, and Nino parts his lips and bites the inquiring digit lightly.   
  
“What do _you_ want?” Nino asks, because it’s just fair. This doesn’t have to be just him wanting this to go where he wants it to, and it doesn’t have to be. They’re in this together, and Nino won’t prefer it any other way.   
  
Ohno is bracing himself on the bed above Nino with his elbow, one hand touching Nino’s face; the heat is still there, alright, and Ohno’s touch still feels like brand against Nino’s skin, but there’s also something else there, glowing behind Ohno’s eyes.    
  
Uncertainty? Fear? Is Ohno afraid of him? Of this?   
  
Nino closes his eyes for a moment, just brief enough to re-arrange his thoughts. Ohno’s touch on his face halts as if on cue, like he’s not sure how to proceed. Somehow, Nino knows he should have expected this; Ohno’s uncertainty is not unfounded, and despite the un-ignorable heat thrumming between them, Ohno hesitates. He is obviously terrified.   
  
Nino figures he has no choice but to guide them both through this.   
  
He breathes slowly at the same time he reaches up to curl his fingers around Ohno’s wrist, soft and deliberate, then turns his face to nuzzle Ohno’s palm, daring not to open his eyes. He lets his action speak for itself, tugging at Ohno’s wrist until Ohno is left with no other choice but to obey.   
  
Soon, Ohno is lowering himself over Nino, their chests touching, warmth spreading over Nino and prompting Nino to open his eyes. The look on Ohno’s face is so, so soft, so fond, that Nino’s chest rattles in answer at the sight of it. He lets his hand work its way from Ohno’s jaw to his ear, up his temple, before worming it around the back of Ohno’s skull and keeping it there.   
  
“It’s alright, you hear me?” Nino says, half-hating the way his voice is shaking around the syllables. He can already feel the heat gathering at the corners of his eyes, but he does his best to ignore that too.    
  
“I want this,” he says, loud enough to see the way Ohno’s eyes widen in surprise. It’s a good look on him, Nino notes, and reminds himself to do it more often if only so he could see those worried lines smooth out into laughter. Ohno then giggles, and Nino does, too, before he could even stop himself.    
  
“N-Nino,” he hears his name afterwards, and Nino knows it is up to him now to take them there. Ohno is still obviously reeling from the past long gone, and Nino will have to be the one to steer them right where they need to be.   
  
He shifts his lower half, groans at the way their groins line up together that the answering heat came as a shock to them both.   
  
“I want you,” he whispers, and it’s an invitation as much as it is a promise, as he licks his lips wet and enjoys the way Ohno’s eyes darken in answer.    
  
“I want you, too,” Ohno says, but the way his mouth lilts into a hesitant smile makes Nino something in Nino pause.    
  
Nino takes Ohno’s face in his hands and pulls his face down for a kiss that is both filthy and demanding, shoving his tongue past Ohno’s lips and levering Ohno down firmly over him before wrapping his legs around Ohno’s hips to keep him in place.    
  
They’re both breathing hard when they pull apart, Ohno trembling above him and looking down at him like he’s trying to decide what to do.    
  
Nino smiles, pushing Ohno off of him and flipping their positions over, till Ohno is the one with his back on the bed and Nino is the one straddling him.    
  
“Then show me,” he says, breathless, before catching Ohno’s mouth for a kiss.   
  
++   
  
“N-Ni – nghhh –“ Ohno mewls, and Nino parts his mouth wider to accommodate Ohno’s growing cock in his mouth. He remembers this all too well, the taste of Ohno’s arousal strong in his tongue, the way his lips curl around the thick head of him as Nino swallows around him.    
  
“Ahh – shit,” Ohno curses, and Nino’s stomach tightens in combined arousal and anticipation. His fingers squeeze around the base of Ohno’s dick, just tight enough for Ohno to feel it, at the same time he pulls his mouth away only so he could lick the slick head repeatedly.    
  
Ohno forces himself up from the bed, his torso curling in answer to Nino’s ministrations. Nino watches the way Ohno’s abs tighten at the action, his mouth watering at the sight.    
  
“Tell me what you want,” he says, before he ducks down to suck the head back into his mouth, quick and hard. Ohno curses yet again, his legs trembling under Nino’s weight.    
  
“Nino –“   
  
“I need you to tell me what you want, Oh-chan,” Nino repeats, sitting up and catching one of Ohno’s balls in his hand. He mounds it softly, watching Ohno’s throat working hard as he swallows. “You want me to suck you off till you come hard in my mouth? Tell me. Otherwise, I’ll have to keep improvising.” He says.   
  
Ohno’s lips look bruised from how he’s been obviously biting on it, his dark, dark eyes surveying Nino over with a look that has Nino keening softly. God, what wouldn’t he give to have Ohno look at him that way for the rest of their lives, seriously?   
  
Ohno says nothing but he grabs Nino’s wrist and pulls Nino to him till they’re face to face. Ohno’s expression is so different from the one he was wearing earlier, and Nino shivers uncontrollably at the way Ohno’s arms hold him steady.    
  
“I need to be inside you,” Ohno says, against his ear, tongue curling wickedly over the sensitive flesh. Nino shivers, feels his cock twitch in answer as Ohno repeats the action twice. “That’s okay, right? Nino?”   
  
Nino nods his head into submission, hands on either side of Ohno’s neck.    
  
“I don’t know why you keep on asking, really,” he says, exasperated. “I thought I’ve already told you – oops – hey!” he says, his complains halting to a complete stop when Ohno moves them so quickly Nino finds himself facing the wall, Ohno moving behind him and kissing the back of his neck hotly.   
  
Then Ohno’s hands guide Nino’s arms to the headboard, rearranging Nino into his hands and knees and kissing Nino’s spine as he does so.    
  
“Keep still,” is the last thing Nino hears before the bed behind him dips, warmth settling over the rest of him when Ohno’s fingers find their way to both of Nino’s buttcheeks to spread them apart.   
  
+++   
  
Nino knows he’s screaming, but he can’t tell from the pounding noises his heart is making everytime Ohno is leaning in for a longer lick. His skin feels like it’s being lit up from within, and he can no longer keep up with the sensation hitting him from all direction, shivering, shaking as Ohno hums warmly into his skin.    
  
“O-Oh-chan, please?” he begs, his hands twitching on their grasp against the headboard with the urge to touch himself to complete the circuit. He’s so hard that it’s almost difficult to think past the want creeping under his skin, trembling as Ohno eats him out and breathes words into his skin.    
  
“This is mine,” Ohno hushes, his tongue going in for a deeper lick. He’s working a finger past the one that’s already there, and Nino’s body bends in half, burying his face into his arm as Ohno tongue-fucks him from behind.    
  
“All mine. You’re mine, Nino. Tell me you’re mine. Tell me,”    
  
“Yes!” Nino says, haphazardly, vaguely feeling Ohno inserting another finger to the two that are already there. He feels full, full, full, but it still feels like it’s not enough. “Oh, fuck, fuck yes!”   
  
Ohno wheezes a muffled, “Fuck,” in return, crooking his fingers inside Nino and biting into the soft flesh of Nino’s thighs. Nino screams – he can’t help it – sensation punching through him when Ohno’s fingertips touch that bundle of nerves inside Nino that only took him mere minutes to find, grabbing hard onto the headboard and cursing.    
  
“Oh god. Oh god. Oh god.”   
  
“Nino –“   
  
“Oh-chan, please, now – you, oh god, I need you now. I need –“   
  
“Fuck, Nino –“ Ohno swears, pulling his fingers out one by one and turning Nino around without preamble. Nino goes to him willingly, whimpering, mouth already parted for Ohno as Ohno dives in for a kiss. Nino barely registers Ohno moving them until they do, until Ohno is the one backed against the headboard and Nino is sitting on his lap – sitting on Ohno’s cock. He watches, dazed, as Ohno produces a condom and tears the wrapper off with his teeth with shaking fingers.    
  
“L-Let me,” Nino asks when he finds enough brain cells to snatch the condom out of Ohno’s hand, throat tight as he watches Ohno pumps his cock once, twice, holding the base firmly and waiting. Nino smooths the condom over him, pinches the head lightly just to hear Ohno’s quiet groan in answer.   
  
“How do you want this?” he asks, though it doesn’t take a genius to know how Ohno wants this. He’s straddling Ohno’s thighs, kneeling over Ohno, Ohno pushing the bottle of lube into his hand and stroking the small of Nino’s back lightly.   
  
“You know what,” Ohno whispers, leaning up to kiss Nino’s stomach, his chest. The next kiss ends up on one of Nino’s nipples, sucking the hardened nub while he’s thumbing on the other.    
  
Nino doesn’t even need to be told twice.    
  
++   
  
This is another thing Nino knows he will never get tired of : watching Ohno’s expression as Nino guides Ohno’s cock into him, every delicious inch of him until he’s sitting primly on Ohno’s crotch.    
  
“Nino –“ Ohno whispers, his voice an encouragement, and his expression filled with wonderment. Nino reaches up, palm cupping Ohno’s jaw and smiling.    
  
“Yes,” he says, and rolls his hips experimentally. The explosion of heat spreading around his middle almost throws Nino over, finds Ohno’s hands gripping his hips for leverage as Nino pulls himself up, slowly, slowly, watching Ohno watch him, the way Ohno’s cock throbs as Nino slowly unsheathes every hard inch of him, before dropping back down and doing it again.    
  
“Oh fuck, _oh yes,”_ Nino curses, grateful for the way Ohno has both arms on either side of Nino’s hips now to anchor him, his own hips leaving the bed to meet Nino’s movement halfway. Nino’s own hands are anchored to Ohno’s shoulders for dear life, leaning over to kiss any part of Ohno’s face he could reach while Ohno’s cock slips in and out of his body.    
  
Nino picks up the pace and Ohno does, too; Nino feels the bed as it rattles beneath them, could hear Ohno’s muffled grunts every single time his cock pushes in too deep he’s hitting the ends of Nino’s body with every upward thrust. Nino knows he’s screaming but he can’t hear himself, keening with every feel of Ohno’s cock sliding into the depths of his body. Still, they don’t stop.    
  
“Oh god, oh fuck,” Ohno swears, harshly, into the side Nino’s neck, and Nino doesn’t even know what’s happening anymore. He thinks the world is shaking until he realized it’s just Ohno flipping them over, and Nino is once again on his back on the bed, Ohno moving them without him dislodging Ohno. Ohno hisses, hard, once Nino is writhing on the bed beneath his body, then grabs one of Nino’s legs and hooks Nino’s ankle over Ohno’s shoulder for leverage. Then Ohno is fucking him again, harder, faster, mouth catching Nino’s for a kiss that outright robbed Nino’s breath straight from his lungs, shaking as Nino feels his orgasm as it tears into the surface so fast he’s barely able to stop it.    
  
“Oh-chan, I’m gonna –“ he screams, voice halting into a screeching stop when Ohno ducks down and swallows everything he’s about to say next, fucking him twice as hard and hitting that spot inside his body that has him shaking hard in seconds. He’s coming before he even realized it, screaming into Ohno’s mouth as his cock pulses between them violently as if he’s never going to stop, messing his and Ohno’s chest and stomachs as Ohno kisses and fucks him through it.    
  
“Oh god, Nino!” Ohno grits, then pulls away, but just briefly, only to watch the way Nino’s cock pulses between them before he’s back into fucking Nino again. Nino lies back and just lets it happen, fingers finding Ohno’s face and urging Ohno on as loud as he could despite his shaking voice.    
  
“Oh god, I love you!” Ohno half-screams, ducking down to kiss Nino again as if he can’t help it, his hips working hard into Nino, his cock slipping in and out of Nino’s body relentlessly. Nino shakes, violent and desperate, but he lets Ohno take whatever he needs as he stays still beneath Ohno’s quaking body in total surrender.   
  
“I love you, I love you so much!” Ohno pulls back and screams into Nino’s cheek, teeth finding Nino’s neck and biting, jerking his cock so hard and coming at the end of it with an almost violent thrust. Nino feels it down to his bones, shaking hard and catching Ohno’s limp body as he collapses on top of Nino, Nino’s hand sweeping over and across Ohno’s damp back, waiting for Ohno’s breathing to even out.    
  
“I love you, too,” he whispers, heart filled with emotion he could hardly contain, as Ohno’s hold tightens around him and shocking him with dampness from which Ohno pushes his face into Nino’s neck with a full-body shudder.   
  
++   
  
It feels like hours later when Ohno speaks again, his breath warm against Nino’s neck, and when he did, Nino almost flips. Ohno has just stopped crying, the ultimate sap, and is simply holding Nino to him like he’s afraid Nino will disappear if he as much as loosens his hold around Nino.   
  
“Nino, can I ask you something?”    
  
“If it’s whether I’m up for second round, yes, but can we maybe do it in like, half an hour? I think I just came my brains out and it’s kinda hard to–“   
  
Ohno pinches him in retaliation, and the action effectively cuts him off.    
  
“No, I wasn’t going to ask you that, you pervert.” Ohno chuckles.   
  
Nino grins. “Oh, okay. What is it, then?”   
  
Ohno pauses for a bit that it almost made Nino twitchy until Ohno whispers, “What would you say if I ask you to marry me?” he asks, hesitant, like his fingers stroking Nino’s hip.    
  
Nino hums and works his fingers on Ohno’s hair. “I’ll say, Oh-chan, I love you with all my heart, but could you please stop acting like an idiot? It’s ridiculous, and also stupid. One more thing? Please quit fucking around because it’s not funny.”    
  
“Well, it’s not,” Ohno says, “and to be fair, I’m not fucking around. I’m actually serious.”   
  
Nino’s fingers still and there’s something stupid rumbling in his chest that he actually doesn’t like. “Don’t joke now, Oh-chan.” He says.    
  
“I’m not joking,” Ohno returns, raising his head, his lips pinched.    
  
Then in a softer voice, he murmurs, “I – I really want to marry you. I really do.” Ohno says, fingering the side of Nino’s mouth; Nino thinks he’s going to burst a blood vessel any minute now as he lets that question sink in.    
  
“W-Wha - ?”   
  
The look on Ohno’s face softens and Nino knows it has something to do with the fact that he probably looks two seconds away from freaking out.    
  
“I know it’s a bit sudden, but I’ve actually been thinking about this for about three months now since –“   
  
“What?” Nino cuts in, thinking how the word ‘sudden’ doesn’t quite cut it.    
  
Ohno smiles and cups Nino’s face in his hand. “I want to marry you,” he declares, like he can’t say it any other way. Nino feels all sorts of emotion mingling around in his chest, and it’s seriously freaking him out.    
  
“You do realize that I’m a guy, too, right?” he says, pointing it outright because probably, Ohno needs to be reminded of that fact, too.    
  
Ohno grins in that lovely, lovely way that makes his eyes turn to slits. “I know that, yes.”   
  
  
“Good, just so we’re clear,” Nino says, “Now, care telling me how you’re planning on doing that? Marrying another guy?” Nino points out, a touché incredulous as he shakes his head. “As far as I know, doing so is not allowed in Japan –“ Nino says, then promptly cuts himself when he realized something.   
  
They’re in freaking Las Vegas.   
  
“But we’re not in Japan, oh my god.”   
  
“Glad you noticed.” Ohno agrees, smiling widely, like he knows he’s won and he’s quietly celebrating it. Nino wants to kiss him silly, but Ohno doesn’t allow him to. He’s moving away so quick Nino barely catches him until he’s back again, and then somehow, there’s a ring being shoved under his nose, Nino watching Ohno shift into a somewhat kneeling position and tugging Nino with him.   
  
Nino is certain he’s blushing to the tips of his hair, feeling utterly, utterly ridiculous over the fact that Ohno is kneeling and grinning like an idiot, ring in hand, obviously about to spout out the most ridiculous question in the history of maybe ever, while they’re both naked and disgusting.   
  
Oh God. Nino feels like dying in shame.    
  
“Ninomiya Kazunari, will you marry me?” Ohno asks, and Nino finds himself covering his face with his hands and muttering a grumbled, YES, before he could even stop his traitorous mouth from talking.   
  
Ohno whoops, giddy and loudly, wrapping his arms around Nino and murmuring his ‘ _I love yous’_ to Nino’s hair repeatedly.


	25. Chapter 25

 

It’s late – or rather, too early, and Ohno knows he should be sleeping, but he’s not. It’s a little frustrating, but also kind of not, but he doesn’t mind it at all because Nino is here.  
  
He’s tired – he could feel the strain down to his bones but it’s not enough to make him want to lie down and sleep, to curl himself around Nino because he knows his body will just react in ways that will make thinking about sleeping all the more difficult.  
  
Even now, he could still feel his fingertips tingle, sensitive, from the last time he’d touched Nino, could feel the lingering pleasure of being surrounded with Nino’s warmth from the inside. It’s difficult enough to move away when all he wants is to keep holding Nino, but he knows that at some point, he has to.  
  
So, he goes, tiptoeing out of the bedroom as quietly as he could, giving Nino’s sleeping figure one last look before he slips out of the door.  
  
The living room is dark, but not entirely; there’s light pilfering through the window from the lamppost outside, bathing the room with a soft, almost bluish glow that makes maneuvering around easier. Ohno moves to accommodate the couch, throws his legs up and perches his laptop on his folded knees as he powers it up.  
  
The screen blinks to life and Ohno absently clicks on Skype, finds Sho’s name and types, _Sho-kun, are you busy? Can we talk?_  
  
The little circle below Sho’s very formal-looking photo turns from orange to green in a matter of seconds, and Ohno waits.  
  
_Yes, of course. Is there something wrong?_  
  
He smiles, shakes his head at the image of his assistant sitting in his office thousands of miles away, frowning at his laptop and worrying over his boss even though he doesn’t really need to.  
  
He types, _Nothing, I just wanted you to know this first before everyone else_.  
  
_I’m getting married. Nino agreed to marry me, so we’re getting married here, as soon as possible. And I was thinking, is it possible for you to be here and be my best man?_  
  
He presses Send.  
  
Ohno doesn’t even get to type another message before Sho is video-calling him, squealing and sputtering when Ohno answers the call.  
  
“ARE YOU SERIOUS?!”  
  
Ohno nods, chest too full to speak as Sho manages an undignified squeal, followed by a series of mutterings that sounded like gifts and proper turn-overs, as Ohno sits there, thanking the heavens for his best friend and for Nino, for being lucky. He’s tearing up before he realized it, fingers shaking around their grip on his laptop as he sits there, sobbing quietly in the dark, knowing that for once, he’s genuinely happy.  
  
And it’s all because of Nino.  
  
++  
  
Nino is clad with a towel wrapped around his tiny waist and is currently surveying one of Ohno’s shirt (he knows it’s his) when Ohno walks back into the bedroom. Even from a distance, he spies a number of reddish marks peppering Nino’s milky white skin, and feels his mouth waters yet again.  
  
He finds himself walking faster to cross the short distance between them, wrapping his arms around Nino from behind the moment he is close enough. Nino startles but does lean into his touch when he turns to nuzzle Nino’s neck.  
  
“Hey beautiful,” he says, grinning.  
  
“Please stop,” Nino snorts, but he does tilt his head a little to give him access to more skin.  
  
God, Nino feels so soft, like satin sheets, and he wants more. He could already feel himself harden at the simple touch, and God, he’s this close from simply throwing Nino back to bed and make love to him all day but, yes, priorities, Ohno has them, too.  
  
“Damn, you smell so good,” he points out, biting at the soft skin under his lips before turning Nino around. The shirt Nino is previously perusing hangs above his head as he guides Nino’s arms around his neck.  
  
“Well, I’ve just showered,” Nino points out, “And I used your shower gel, by the way. Didn’t know you like lavender.”  
  
Ohno sniffs, loving the way Nino giggles in answer. “It’s a gift,” he says, smelling Nino some more. “Fuck, that scent suits you better. Remind me to buy more of that stuff for you.” he says, leaning down and biting Nino’s chin lightly.  
  
Nino giggles, probably because he can’t help it. Ohno tugs him closer, and close still, holding Nino tight and just breathing Nino’s scent in for a while longer before he pulls away.  
  
“Well, are you done?” Nino asks, his lips curling teasingly at the edges but the look in his eyes is soft, fond. Ohno can’t help but lean in and kiss him again.  
  
“Just about,” he says.  
  
Nino chuckles and waves Ohno’s shirt in front of his face. “You told me we have to be ready before eleven. How am I supposed to do that if you keep on bothering me?”  
  
He chuckles back and squeezes Nino’s hip. “Sorry, I just. I saw you standing here and I just can’t help myself.” He says and steps back. It proves to be really difficult but he mans up.  
  
“Anyway, go ahead,” he says, moving to sit himself down on the edge of the bed to watch Nino. “Go get dressed. Don’t mind me. “  
  
Nino rolls his eyes in answer. “Fine,” Nino agrees, and he’s still smiling. Ohno wants to go there and kiss his smiling mouth but holds himself. God, he’s so gone. “I’m borrowing your shirt, okay? I’m too lazy to unpack my stuff now to find one, hope you don’t mind.”  
  
“Not at all, Nino.”  
  
Nino shakes his head as if he can’t help it. “Right,” he says under his breath, as he puts on the shirt – Ohno’s shirt. When he’s done, he turns and gives Ohno a look, one that makes him look much, much younger than his age and Ohno is so, so in love with him.  
  
“So, where did you say we were going again?”  
  
Ohno grins; he never imagined doing this, _ever_ , but things happened in between, Nino happened, so here he is. He licks his lips and grins at the memory of the phone call he made earlier while Nino was sleeping, chest unusually tight and his throat admittedly tighter knowing that it’s finally happening.  
  
“We’re meeting Ms. Sharon for lunch,” he says, feeling his fingers tremble along with the rest of him in combined anticipation and excitement.  
  
“Ms. Sharon?”  
  
He nods and gets up, finds Nino’s hips to hold on to as he leans in for a quick kiss.  
  
“Yes,” he breathes. “She’s my miracle worker, the one who made your trip possible in such short notice, you remember?” he says.  
  
Nino frowns and Ohno can’t help himself from tugging Nino in, pressing his mouth against Nino’s temple and adding, “So yeah,” he says, pausing with each word to stamp kisses after kisses on Nino’s forehead as he holds Nino close. “we’re meeting her because she’ll be helping us with our wedding preparations here in Vegas.”  
  
“Wait, already?” Nino asks, voice high; Ohno pulls him closer and nods. “Oh-chan, aren’t we being, um, rash? I mean, I know I’ve agreed to this insane plan but do we really have to do it, like, now? As soon as possible?”  
  
“Yes,” he says, “Why, you don’t want to?” he asks, a touché hurt. “Are you changing your mind already, Nino?”  
  
“Of course not!”  
  
“Then what’s the problem?” he says, pulling Nino to him again, lips against the side of Nino’s head. “We don’t even know if it’s possible if we have all the requirements they need. So, we’re going to check.” He adds.  
  
“But actually, I don’t really care if we don’t have all the requirements they need in our hands right now,” he breathes into Nino’s hair, feels Nino’s fingers tighten their grip on his shirt. “I’ll have Sho-kun bring all the documents from Japan for us, I swear, anything to make this wedding possible, so you just make sure you’re on board with this as me because –“ he pauses, pulling away just far enough so he could look Nino in the eyes as he touches Nino’s cheek with the back of his hand.  
  
“Because, God, I just. I just want to marry you,” he breathes, kissing Nino’s eyes, the tip of his nose, the corners of his mouth. “I want to be married to you, Nino. Please.”  
  
Nino chuckles low and catches his face in between Nino’s hands, guiding his face closer for a kiss. It’s soft, tender, almost chaste, and Ohno sighs into the kiss, catching one of Nino’s hands pressed softly against Ohno’s jaw and holds on to it.  
  
“Do you think it’s possible for anyone to say no to that kind of proposition?” Nino asks in between kisses, as he draws Ohno near. “Because it’s not. It’s not, you hear me? God, I’ll marry you right here if I can, just to shut you up, you ass.” Nino complains, though he doesn’t sound the least bit like he is, and Ohno wants to kiss him some more.  
  
But then Nino is tugging him forward again by his elbow, lips already parted for him and obviously scratching Ohno’s itch for him as Nino kisses him, kisses him, kisses him. Ohno lets his mind drift away for a while, lost in the feel of Nino’s body against him, his soft skin and protruding bones, their breathes melding as Ohno holds Nino’s head steady to deepen the kiss.  
  
++  
  
“Well, so long as you have your passport with you, you can apply for a marriage license,” Ms. Sharon notes, slowly, in broken Japanese mashed with English, as she points at the document she laid on the table. Next to him, Nino briefly eyes the document she’s pointing at and, noting that everything is in English, decides he’d rather stare at Ms. Sharon instead.  
  
Ohno swears he saw the woman’s lips twitch.  
  
“That’s it?” he asks, catching Nino’s hand and tangling their fingers together under the table. Nino turns to him, blushing, and squeezes their hands together.  
  
She nods, keeping her expression straight but Ohno still notices the way her gaze darted sideways, to Nino. He feels a smile coming but he tries his best to swallow it down.  
  
She’s obviously finding Nino good-looking – the picture he sent her for the processing of Nino’s visa didn’t do Nino justice, he’s pretty and Ohno knows it, hell, she knows it - even more so now that Nino’s in front of her, and he can’t exactly blame her for it. She’s not the first person who finds Nino mouthwateringly gorgeous, and Ohno’s certain she won’t be the last.  
  
Nino is his, though, and no one is going to take Nino away from him, he’s going to make sure of it.  
  
“Pretty much, yes,” Ms. Sharon says, still trying her best to converse with them in his mother tongue. He appreciates it so much, even though she doesn’t really need to go to such length. They normally talk in English, after all, but he guesses the reason she’s exerting the extra effort is because of Nino.  
  
“Oh, but you have to apply for it personally, both of you,” she follows as if she’s just remembering it. “I can take you there myself and I can walk you through the procedure if you want. After that, it’s your choice if you want to get married in one of the hundreds of chapels along the strip once you get the license, which will be like just minutes later, or wait until you planned it out.” She says.  
  
Then, like an afterthought, “You do have other plans, right?” she asks, gazing at them both. “Like a proper wedding ceremony and reception, those kinds of things, yes?”  
  
Ohno doesn’t, not really, but maybe this is the part where he asks Nino. He turns to Nino and pulls their joined hands together, palms up, and reaches over to touch Nino’s chin with his other free hand.  
  
“I haven’t thought about it, really, but,” he pauses, eyes locked on Nino’s face. “How about you, Kazu?” he asks, “Do you have anything particular in mind?”  
  
Nino tilts his head and smiles that one smile that makes him look wicked. He tugs at their joined hands lightly and throws Ms. Sharon a toothy grin.  
  
“No, but I’m sure your best buddy and my wonderful boss, Matsumoto Jun, might.” Nino says, “I swear I can go without the theatrics but this is the only time we’re doing this, hopefully, so I’d say let’s go wild. Tell her to talk to him and let them take care of the gory details together. I’m sure your secretary knows exactly what to tell Matsumoto-san for him to join in and take over the party himself.”  
  
He grins in answer. “You’re sure about this?”  
  
Nino shakes his head. “Nope, but you’re crazy enough to want this, this marriage, so I might as well join you in your craziness,” Nino tells him, still with that wicked glint in his eyes.  
  
“God, I love you.”  
  
He says, then lets his fingertip graze Nino’s mouth, light, and teasing, and only vaguely aware of Ms. Sharon darting her gaze elsewhere, obviously just to be polite. She’s blushing, and Ohno wants to feel bad for her, for embarrassing her – unintentionally of course, but he guesses that can’t be helped.  
  
He turns to her and nods. “You heard my fiancé, Ms. Sharon,” he says, smiles when she tilts her head in answer. “Go crazy. You can talk to my assistant, Sakurai Sho, about everything you need to get things done. Nino’s boss will surely join the party, too, so, good luck with that.”  
  
“His boss?”  
  
“Yeah,” he says, turning to Nino. “Stay Gold’s Matsumoto Jun.”  
  
“Oh, crap.” She mutters, wincing as if she’d been stung; then smiles awkwardly when she sees the matching expression on his and Nino’s faces.  
  
“Huh, you know him?” he and Nino ask.  
  
Her lips curl. “Ugh, that’s probably an understatement,” she says, shaking her head as if she’s trying to erase a particularly nasty memory out of her head. Obviously, it’s not working.  
  
“Guy’s a handful, but oh well, if you say I need to coordinate with him, guess that can’t be helped,” she says.  
  
Ohno mentally reminds himself to ask her about this next time, because he’s certain there’s a back story in there somehow. Might be hilarious, judging with the way Ms. Sharon reacted earlier.  
  
He smiles and stands up, pulling Nino with him.  
  
“I’ll let my assistant contact you, then, yes?”  
  
She nods and stands up along with them, and Ohno offers his hand to her. Nino does the same, holding out his hand for her to take and she promptly smiles, just a little, a tiny smile that looks so much better than all of her smiles aimed at Ohno’s direction combined.  
  
He sighs. Nino’s charm, seriously.  
  
“Let me know if anything untoward comes up, yeah?” he says, tugging Nino back to his side.  
  
“Will do,” she says, and to Nino, she says, “Nice to meet you, Mr. Ninomiya. And congratulations to the both of you, by the way.”  
  
Nino bows his head at her and smiles. “Thank you.”  
  
Ohno does the same. “See you, Ms. Sharon, and thank you again.”  
  
She simply waves her hand at them and excuses herself. Ohno watches her go, his fingers tangled against Nino's.  
  
"I think she's crushing on you," he turns and whispers, conspiratorially, into Nino's ear.  
  
Nino giggles. "Are you worried I'll cheat on you with her?"  
  
"No,"  
  
"Hmm, just checking."  
  
"I"m just worried she'd take you away,"  
  
Nino laughs. "Silly," he says, and tugs at their joined hands again. "She won't waste her time on me, so rest assured. Also, will you quit that and, I don't know, tour me around? Our wedding's not happening in at least a few more days so I still got time to look around. Or try you out for more sex. Just because you didn't suck the first time doesn't mean you'll always do great. Come on."  
  
He grins and pulls Nino to him again, leaning forward to bite lightly at Nino's ear. Nino giggles and shoves him away, albeit lightly.  
  
"Wow, is that an invitation?" he asks, winking. "Because I'll gladly accommodate, I swear."  
  
Nino rolls his eyes to the heaven and tugs at their hands. "Yes, loverboy. Now let's go before I change my mind."  
  
"Aye, Sir!"

 

++

 

 


	26. Chapter 26

INTERLUDE

 

There are fingers on his face, firm and guiding, but Sho, for once, is distracted. 

He can’t bring himself to fully concentrate when his mind is filled with yet unfinished tasks he knows he would have to take care of come morning. Flight schedules, work delegation, people he needs to talk to before his flight leaves for Vegas three days after.

“Hey, where did you go?” Matsumoto-san’s voice snatches him out of his temporary daze, bringing his attention back to very physical present by grasping his chin and raising his head softly. 

Their gazes catch and Sho feels somewhat exposed, naked though he already is as Matsumoto-san scrutinizes him with a glance that is both curious and worried. 

Sho clears his throat and tries to avert his eyes as Matsumoto-san’s thumb slides over Sho’s bottom lip gently, his touch lingering. His lips feel somewhat swollen and overused from sucking Matsumoto-san’s dick for god-knows-how-long, though it’s obvious that he’s been too distracted to even do it properly.

“Sorry,” he mumbles and drops his gaze on Matsumoto-san’s lap, realizes that he still has his fingers wrapped around the base in a loose grip. Matsumoto-san is still hard, the head shining with unfulfilled arousal combined with Sho’s saliva and Sho absently ducks down to lick the tip.

Matsumoto-san groans as if on cue. 

But as quickly as it happens, Sho feels himself being pushed away.

“There’s something you’re not telling me,” Matsumoto-san says. Sho watches him as he pulls himself into a somewhat sitting position, pushing himself backwards until he’s firmly backed against the headboard before he beckons Sho over.

Sho obeys, much like he always does, and starts crawling on all fours, stopping when Matsumoto-san’s arms find his hips and pulls him much closer till he’s sitting primly on Matsumoto-san’s lap.

Sho allows himself to be moved, but doesn’t dare say anything even when he’s already there, face inches away from Matsumoto-san and hands gripping Matsumoto-san’s forearms for dear life.

“Start talking, Sho-san.”

Sho picks through the words scrambling around in his brain and tries to come up with a proper answer. It’s hard, especially when Matsumoto-san is looking at him like he would personally cut his skull open if he has to, if that’s what it would take to see what is going in on in his head if he doesn’t start talking soon. 

 

“I –“ he says, then pauses. 

Is it alright to say that he’s just distracted and leave it at that? Matsumoto-san sure gets offended easily – Sho doesn’t need to be with the other man for long to realize it – and swears he’ll do his best not to get on Matsumoto-san’s bad side often if he could help it. 

Though, to be honest, he’s obviously not doing a fairly good job at it right now, more so when he’d been so overjoyed with the news of Ohno’s forthcoming wedding. That, and the fact that he’s quietly worrying himself sick about some things he has no control over.

“I have to leave for Las Vegas in two days,” he says, before he could talk himself out of it and lie about his impending travel. There’s something else in his mind, something he can’t be man enough to tell Matsumoto-san and he knows it.

Matsumoto-san simply raises an eyebrow at him, like he’s waiting for more. Sho looks away.

“Ohno-san and Ninomiya-san are getting married.” He says.

A beat. “Wow,” Matsumoto-san exhales, surprised. He does sound like it, too. “Seriously?” Sho nods. 

“It’s – I think it’s kind of sudden, but Ohno-san has been thinking about it for months. Ninomiya-san agreeing to come see him was the only cue he needed, so, yeah.” He continues, vaguely feeling Matsumoto-san’s fingers settling firmly, almost possessively on his hips. 

“And that’s the reason you’re distracted?” Matsumoto-san asks, like he knows that’s just not it. Sho wishes he has enough courage to tell Matsumoto-san otherwise. 

“Because it sure looks to me that it’s the exact opposite. In fact, it looks to me that there’s something really important you’re not telling me.”

Sho can’t, for the life of him, answer this. Is that really it? Somehow, he knows there’s something else that’s bothering him, aside from the obvious. 

“No, I –“ Sho says, then stops himself. “There’s nothing. I promise.”

Matsumoto-san’s jaw twitch. “Don’t lie to me, Sho-san.”

Sho’s chest heaves at the question and he struggles to push himself away from Matsumoto-san’s lap, face burning in shame, but Matsumoto-san doesn’t let him. Instead, Matsumoto-san’s grip tightens, one hand remains on Sho’s hip and the other he worms around the back of Sho’s head to keep it in place. 

“You’re going to tell me what’s wrong or I’m forcing it out of you, Sakurai Sho, don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Matsumoto-san says.

Sho stills. 

Somehow, there are these things that scares him most, more than he dares to admit, and one of them is this : Matsumoto Jun.

Somehow, he gets that this thing they have between them means nothing for the other man, and that’s – that’s the hardest part, because it’s different for Sho. He likes Matsumoto-san – almost too much so that it’s quietly fucking him up inside knowing that it’s not going to last. 

It’s hard to admit, even to himself that he’s jealous of what Ohno-san and Ninomiya-san has, knowing that he won’t ever get it, that everytime he finds himself on his knees in between Matsumoto-san’s legs, worshipping Matsumoto-san’s cock, is the only time he gets to have the other man for himself.

But that’s the extent of what Matsumoto-san can offer and Sho’s not that greedy to want something more, even if his heart does crave for it. He could want what Ohno-san and Ninomiya-san has all he wants but that doesn’t mean he could have it.

That’s just how it is and he has to accept it.

Besides, dating doesn’t always mean devoting one’s self to the other person, like he obviously did when he and Matsumoto-san started this, and maybe, that has to stop now. He has to, for his own damn sake, at least.

He squares his shoulders and raises his head, stares straight into Matsumoto-san’s eyes. 

“I – I have to go,” he says instead.

Matsumoto-san’s expression darkens visibly. 

“Which part of ‘ _you’re going to tell me what’s wrong or I’m forcing it out of you’_ isn’t clear?” Matsumoto-san growls, tugging Sho closer. “You’re not leaving this room until you tell me what the fuck I did to deserve this, Sho-san.”

Sho looks away. “Nothing,” he says, lips pinched. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be, Matsumoto-san. Let me go; I have tons of things to finish before I have to leave so –“

“Are you breaking up with me?” Matsumoto-san hisses, low in his throat; Sho stills as if on cue. 

Sho hollows out a mirthless laughter. “We’re not even –“

“But we are,” Matsumoto-san says, cutting him off. “Right?” Matsumoto-san follows. It somehow throws Sho off, especially when Matsumoto-san leans over and holds the base of Sho’s skull in one hand as he nuzzles Sho’s cheek. 

“I thought we are,” Matsumoto-san mumbles, “Or are you saying it was just me? Was I imagining things, Sho-san? Does this mean you weren’t – that you didn’t –“

Sho gapes; what is Matsumoto-san going on about?

“Is this the part where you’re going to tell me you were just playing me to distract me? So I won’t chase after Ninomiya-san because your boss told you to?”

What the actual hell? 

“Leave Ohno-san and Ninomiya-san out of this,” he grits, wriggling out of Matsumoto-san’s hold. This time, Matsumoto-san lets him. 

“They have nothing to do with this, and you know it.” He says, crawling away and off the bed in record-breaking speed as he searches for his discarded clothing.

He’s not sure what exactly happened there but the tension hanging in the air is thick, heavy, he can barely breath through it. He can apologize, tell Matsumoto-san he didn’t mean to upset the other man, that he didn’t mean any of this to happen but the words are heavy in his mouth and he can’t seem to get the words out no matter how hard he tries.

When he looks back, he realizes Matsumoto-san has managed to throw a pillow over his lap and his expression is dark and unreadable.

Sho goes and picks up his boxers, hurriedly puts it on as Matsumoto-san stays quiet on the bed.

He’s somewhat presentable when he retrieves the last of his stuff, realizes Matsumoto-san is no longer in bed before he hears the shower starts running.

He doesn’t say goodbye this time. He doesn’t have to.

He slips out of the door as quietly as he enters it, footsteps heavy as is his heart beating unevenly in his chest as he closes the door behind him with finality.

 

++

 

 


	27. Chapter 27

25 (PART 2) + EPILOGUE

 

As agreed, Sho arrived in Las Vegas three days later with Nino’s mother and sister.   
  
Apparently, Aiba will be arriving too, but in a separate flight, just as Sho informed him.   
  
Like Sho, Aiba will stand as Nino’s best man, though it is only because – as Nino had smugly (though Ohno is certain it’s just to hide how grateful and equal-parts embarrassed Nino actually was) pointed out then – that Aiba volunteered himself for the part, and that Nino didn’t want to break Aiba’s heart by refusing him. He’d been saving money for the trip ever since Nino mentioned he’d gotten back together with Ohno, Nino had said, so he really had no choice but to say yes.   
  
Ohno had said nothing then, just kissed Nino and told him he’d made arrangements prior, just as he did for Nino’s mother and sister, because he knew it would make Nino happy.   
  
The first thing Ohno noticed are the dark rings under Sho’s eyes the second he saw the other man. Sho had revealed nothing when Ohno had asked him how he was doing, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what was wrong.   
  
He was honestly expecting them arriving in Las Vegas together, and when it didn’t happen, he knew something was up. Especially when he asked after Matsumoto Jun and Sho simply averted his gaze and mumbled something about Stay Gold’s president being too busy to attend the wedding or something that sounded like it, though Ohno couldn’t be so sure.   
  
His suspicions about all of it had been confirmed when he saw the visitor’s final list and found out Matsumoto’s name was missing.   
  
He had wanted to ask Sho, he really did, and the curiosity is making him twitchy but somehow, he couldn’t, knowing that it is not his place.   
  
In the end, it was Nino himself who did.   
  
“He’s obviously being mum about it,” Nino tells him after dinner, when their guests have been properly fed, driven back to the hotel where they would be staying, along with Sho, and he could finally have Nino all to himself.   
  
Nino’s mother and sister looked genuinely thrilled to find out that Nino’s getting married, and Ohno liked the look on Nino’s face when he’d finally gotten out of his mother’s nearly-suffocating embrace to introduce Ohno to them. Ohno would never forget the way his heart swelled with affection when Nino had wormed his arms around Ohno’s waist, as he introduced Ohno to his family.   
  
“He wouldn’t tell me what’s wrong and he wouldn’t say why Matsumoto-san’s name ended up being scrapped out of my wedding list either.” Nino mutters, into the dip on Ohno’s neck where he’d spent the better part of the last ten minutes nuzzling affectionately.   
  
“And I doubt I’ll get anything helpful out of my employer’s big mouth, either,”   
  
“How about if I’m the one to ask?” he wonders; he’d honestly been thinking about it, to call Matsumoto himself and ask him what the fuck he did that made Sho-kun look like a walking wet weekend but he really couldn’t make himself call Matsumoto Jun, no matter how much he wants to.   
  
“I could call your boss and ask him,” he says, not really meaning it; he’s honestly sour about the whole thing because, seriously, those two’s timing is the worst.   
  
Somehow, he can’t help but wonder how Matsumoto and Sho managed it then, when they’ve acted as his and Nino’s mediators, because it’s admittedly, embarrassingly hard.   
  
“Won’t your secretary get mad if he finds out you did that?” Nino asks, frowning hard.   
  
Assistant, he wants to correct Nino but decides to let it go, for now. “Probably,” he says, “but I’ll be doing it for them so, don’t you think he’d thank me instead?”   
  
“I doubt it,” Nino says. “I think he’s the type that gets mad over trivial things like that, though, oh well, I guess it’s understandable? I mean, I would, too – get mad, that is, if I find out that people I trust are doing things behind my back. It won’t even matter if it’s for my own good, because, I probably won’t care anyway. I’d be too mad to even feel grateful.”   
  
He chuckles and touches Nino’s nose. “Yeah, but that’s you,” he says, only vaguely wondering how he was able to move past those heartbreaking months without Nino, though, it doesn’t matter now. Nino is here and they’re going to get married, nothing else matters aside from that.   
  
“Well, yeah,” Nino readily agrees, “but it’s better to be sensitive about other people’s feelings too. I think it’s better to be careful, to expect that your secretary is someone who doesn’t appreciate being told what to do, like how most people do.” Nino adds.   
  
“But I always tell him what to do, Nino.” He clarifies.   
  
Nino pokes him on the chest. “We both know that’s different,” Nino says, “because that’s for work. It’s not that hard to imagine how he will react if you start poking around his personal life, especially with how he remained tight-lipped when you asked him why he left Japan without Matsumoto-san.”   
  
He tsks and rearranges himself so Nino could, too. They’re squeezed together on the couch, much like they always are when moving towards the bedroom seems like a lot of work. There’s mug of steaming black coffee sitting on the coffee table but Nino is currently busy undoing the top buttons of Ohno’s dress shirt to even notice it.   
  
“He looks unhappy,” he says, like an afterthought; he’s only mildly distractedly by the way Nino is working on undoing his tie now, his fingers carding through Nino’s hair.   
  
Somehow, it’s highly unlikely for Sho to do something that is drastically stupid – he’s not saying that’s the case this time - but then again, who is Ohno to judge him when he himself has done quite a few numbers of fantastically stupid things in the past, because of his love for Nino?   
  
He has no right to judge Sho, or Matsumoto for that matter, but it’s difficult not to speculate, most specially when it hasn’t even been more than a week since Sho confirmed he is dating Matsumoto Jun. He is convinced that Sho’s unhappiness has to do with Matsumoto Jun having been left out from the wedding itself – but he can only guess.   
  
“Tell me something I don’t already know, Oh-chan,” Nino says, leaning up to plant a kiss square into Ohno’s mouth.   
  
Ohno doesn’t, but only because it’s only going to sound redundant, and dumb and stupid and maybe a little too much like he’s doubting Sho’s ability to handle himself and his decisions, because he doesn’t. Somehow, one way or another, Sho will have to settle things between him and Matsumoto, properly, the way mature adults would, and if not, maybe it’s Ohno’s turn this time to help and intervene.   
  
Until then, Ohno can only hope Sho is tough enough to handle this himself, his emotions better than Ohno ever did, because what else is there but that? He wishes the same happiness he has with Nino for Sho, but that’s the only thing he can do for him for now.   
  
“I’m sure they’ll figure it out,” he says into Nino’s hair, holding Nino close to him and breathing Nino’s wonderful scent in, vaguely feeling Nino nodding his head in return before burying his face against Ohno’s neck. Ohno inhales greedily, grateful for the fact that things have worked out for him and Nino, and quietly wishes the same for Sho.   
  
It’s the only thing he can do for him now.   
  
  
++   
  
He lets Nino pick out their suits, and their rings, though he was the one who decided on the wedding date once their license was approved.   
  
Ms. Sharon made prior arrangements to make the application process easier, even guiding them personally where they needed to go. She even proposed the idea of providing her with an authorization letter that will allow her to renew their marriage certificate a year later if they can’t do it themselves, and they thanked her for her kindness.   
  
The wedding would be in two days, in the courtyard of Emerald at Queensridge, somewhere along Rampart Blvd. He’d made Nino choose the venue itself, much like everything else about the wedding, simply because he wants this to be about Nino and his devotion for the other man more than anything else.   
  
The venue itself is perfect – the impressive pergola alone will serve as the ceremony altar, and the waterscape behind provides a beautifully tranquil backdrop for the reception without the annoying lights dancing behind them to steal the show, and Ohno liked it instantly.   
  
Instead of flowers, Nino simply asked for the place to be decorated with nothing but yellow and blue lights. Carpets won’t be necessary since Nino’s not going to walk down the aisle, so he asked that the open space be filled with chairs where their few family members, friends and visitors could sit.   
  
Nino also wanted the reception to be held on the same place (“It’s cheaper that way, Oh-chan, what are you even saying?”) so there’s that. They don’t even have to travel somewhere else, along with their guests so he guesses that’s a plus point, too.   
  
“Sure, you’re not going to change your mind about this?” Nino teases him once they’re back in the apartment, his back against the closed door and Nino is in his front, pressing him there. His hands automatically find Nino’s hips, copping a feel and ending up finding the box of rings Nino shoved in his pants’ pocket earlier.   
  
“Nope,” he says, serious. “And will you please quit asking? Nothing you say or do at this point will make me want to change my mind about this, okay? Okay?” He says, with finality.   
  
Nino smirks, but it looks soft around the edges, the look on his face a little too fond. Ohno finds a smile for him as he reaches up to touch Nino’s face, cupping his jaw and stroking the soft skin beneath his eyes.   
  
“Well, I’m just checking,”   
  
“For what?” he asks. Nino averts his eyes in answer but Ohno stops him just in time. “Hey, come on, don’t be like that. Nino, let me look at you. Come on.”   
  
Nino stubbornly closes his eyes in answer but he does allow Ohno to cup his chin and lift his face so Ohno can press his lips against both of Nino’s eyes.   
  
“Oh-chan –“   
  
“Nino, believe me on this. I love you, okay?” he breathes, hand tender on Nino’s nape.   
  
“I mean it, I really, really do and I can’t wait to marry you, to be married to you forever, Nino, so please just, just let me, okay?” he says, pulling Nino to him and kissing his forehead. Nino goes willingly, breathing warmly into Ohno’s neck as Ohno pushes his face into the dip of Nino’s shoulder to breathe him in.   
  
“Okay, Oh-chan,” Nino breathes, and it’s as soft as it sounded when it left Nino’s lips. “Okay.”   
  
Ohno smiles as he holds Nino close with all the intention of keeping him right here, where Ohno knows he belongs.   
  
  
++   
  
The morning of their wedding day, Ohno finds himself meeting Matsumoto Jun for coffee in his Stay Gold Hotel’s Las Vegas office.   
  
“I take it that everything worked out just fine between you two?” Matsumoto asks with a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. Ohno wants to feel bad for him – he probably already does – but he can’t quite bring himself to act like he does when he knows his best friend is hurting.   
  
Somehow, Ohno is ready to believe it is Matsumoto Jun’s fault but seeing Matsumoto’s face now, he really doubts that is the case.   
  
“Yes, and I know I have you to thank you for that, too,” he says, keeping his gaze on Matsumoto’s face.   
  
Matsumoto Jun nods into his coffee but says nothing. Ohno takes this as his cue to continue.   
  
He fishes around in his suit jacket and takes the invitation he finds there, sliding it carefully across the table top. Matsumoto eyes it quietly.   
  
“It’s supposed to be a garden wedding, just before sunset, but Nino thinks it’s expensive, and dramatic, oh well,  so we’re doing it there instead. I hope you could come.”   
  
Matsumoto blinks at him. “I –“   
  
“I know it’s - it’s not my place and I’m not here to ask you what the fuck happened; that’s between you and Sho-kun, obviously. I swear I only came here when Nino found out you’re in Vegas, too, and told me I have to go and convince you to come. I mean, I don’t really care if you attend the wedding or not, you’re not the one I’m marrying anyway, but Nino insisted he wants you there so, here I am.” he says; he really didn’t mean to sound so harsh but he’s certain that acting like a goddamn mediator won’t work between these two.   
  
He might as well just avoid the drama and let them figure out what they want by themselves.   
  
“Is he – I mean, he – Sho-san doesn’t want me there.” Matsumoto says; he sounded hesitant, and helpless and this time, Ohno can’t help but feel really bad for him.   
  
“It’s not his wedding and it’s not his call to make, Gold-Face, okay?” he says. “Look, I know you two have issues and as I said, I’m not going to ask but if – if you think he…if you think he’s worth it, then why don’t you talk to him and make him understand? I mean, if you want him as much as I think you do?” he finishes.   
  
Matsumoto Jun says nothing but he does reaches for the envelop and slides it carefully into the pocket of his jacket with a little nod of his head as confirmation.   
  
Ohno takes it as one, reaches for his coffee and hope for the best.   
  
++   
  
He doesn’t see Nino until they’re both standing there in the ceremony altar, donning their respective suits.   
  
Nino looks dashing in his light grey suit and bowtie, his own almost a perfect match to Nino’s wardrobe except for the tie. Ohno had asked Nino why he chose this color instead of black or white, and Nino simply said he preferred grey better, and that’s that.   
  
There are noises coming from the people chattering behind them but Ohno pay them no mind. His attention is solely focused on Nino, and vaguely on the old man walking into position opposite them.   
  
He briefly caught a glimpse of Matsumoto Jun sliding onto a seat on the far back, catching Sho looking in that direction, too, so Ohno knows that Sho knows Matsumoto is there. He tries not to think about them for now and instead focuses his attention on Nino, at lovely but obviously nervous smile tugging at the edges of Nino’s lips.   
  
His hands are cold and the proverbial butterflies that’s taken permanent residence in his belly are obviously having a party, and the almost unending fluttering makes Ohno sick.   
  
“Easy,” Nino breathes into his ear; Ohno doesn’t even realize Nino has leaned in, pretending to fix his tie for him until he’s done it, his breath warm against Ohno’s ear.   
  
“You’re so white, Oh-chan, Jesus, breathe for me, come on. Don’t you dare die on me until this is over or I swear to your ancestors I’m gonna revive you again just so I could kill you myself.” Nino tells him, his voice quaking just the slightest bit, the only indication that he’s just as nervous as Ohno, but it is enough to make Ohno feel so much better than he does seconds before.   
  
He tries a smile and wishes it doesn’t come out looking like more like a grimace but he can’t trust himself enough to do better, but the only thing he could do is try. Their gazes catch and Nino smiles back like it’s enough, and somehow, Ohno knows that it is.   
  
“Everyone,” the man to the front starts, and the feeling like Ohno has just swallowed his heart intensifies. “We are all gathered here to witness the union of Satoshi Ohno and Kazunari Ninomiya –“   
  
Ohno clears his throat, tuning everyone out save from Nino standing in front of him, feels the way his heart is thudding hard inside his chest.   
  
They’re in this together, he reassures himself, and that’s all that matters.   
  
Ohno concentrates on trying to breathe properly knowing that Nino is doing the same.   
  
++   
  
They face each other; he has one hand gripping Nino’s own while the other holding the paper tightly. He could very well feel his throat close up in anxiousness, mentally wills it all to stop and wishes he doesn’t fuck this up and end up embarrassing Nino in the process.   
  
When he clears his throat loud enough to wake the dead, everything quiets down save from the sounds his heart is making beneath his ribcage but he ignores it entirely in favor of squeezing Nino’s hand.   
  
“Don’t. Cry.” Nino whispers, urging him, and Ohno finds a smile for him, even though he already feels like weeping.   
  
He nods, swallows thickly and starts, his voice quivering along with the rest of him.   
  
“I, Ohno Satoshi, wholeheartedly take you, Ninomiya Kazunari, as my lawfully wedded husband. From this day forward, I promise to love, cherish, protect and spoil you rotten, even when you’re so damn hard to please.” The crowd cheers.   
  
He clears his throat and takes his gaze off the paper, knowing the words like the back of his own hand. Of course; he was the one who wrote them, after all.   
  
“I promise not to piss you off more than I already do, to not steal the covers at night even when you hoard them all to yourself. I promise to kill every single creepy bugs for you even though I’m scared of them myself, to let you have the first sips of every coffee I prepare for myself because I know you like them hot. I promise not to invite you out to join me fishing or camping unless you invite yourself first, and I promise not to bribe you or blackmail you to work for me again unless you offered it yourself.” He pauses here, smiling wetly as Nino squeezes his hand in return.   
  
“I promise not to bother you when you’re working or when you’re gaming –“ he pauses here with a grin, “because I expect you to do the same. I promise to be faithful to you, be your best friend and partner with whom you could be comfortable being with. I promise to make you laugh when you’re sad, to kiss you when you’re pissed, and to stay with you even when you’re angry. I promise I will never leave your side even when you ask me to, to hug you and just be there for you when you need me, and even if you say you don’t.”   
  
“I promise to love you with all my heart, Nino, with every single nerve I have in my body, with every breath that leaves my lungs, and every sigh that leaves my lips. I promise to be there for you, every waking hour of your life, to walk with you, help you out of the bed if you can’t do it yourself anymore. I promise to love you even when there’s no life left in me, and I will love you still, even in the afterlife.” He declares, heaving a deep breath as he squeezes Nino’s hand again, in sheer love and gratefulness.   
  
“And thank you. For allowing me this chance to stay with you, for granting me the second chance to prove to you that I could be better, for you. Thank you for being you, for being patient with me, for being here, for making me the happiest man alive for marrying me here, now. I love you, Nino. And I’ll always will…” he bites his lips, his eyes blurry with tears as he summons the strength to finish.   
  
“Then, now and always.” He finishes.   
  
He’s a mess when he raises his head, finding Nino’s no better either, his eyes are wet with tears but he is smiling in a way that makes Ohno’s heart trip up to his throat as he brings Nino’s hand to his lips for a chaste kiss.   
  
“I know,” he grins, shakily; Nino shakes his head at him as if he doesn’t know what to with him, looking exasperatedly fond more than anything.   
  
“Your turn.” he says, just to be a jerk.   
  
Nino sniffles and mutters, “You bastard,” voice trembling, tugging at their joined hands and ignoring the officiating minister’s protests as he pulls Ohno to him and kisses him.   
  
Ohno smiles into the kiss, curls his fingers around Nino’s own firmly, and kisses Nino back with all he has.   
  
++   
  
The weight of the ring in his finger feels foreign, unfamiliar, but Nino welcomes it along with the strange sensation he felt forming in his chest the moment he watched Ohno slipped the ring on him earlier.   
  
Even now, it’s still there. Nino can still feel it thrumming under his skin, pounding behind his ribcage, strong enough to still rival the way his heart is beating thunderously in his chest as he and Ohno move in tandem.   
  
The mattress creaks beneath them – hard and almost unforgiving - and combined with the noises their bodies are making on top of the ones he couldn’t help but let out, the sensation grows tenfold. It doesn’t help that the ring on his finger glistens as he holds onto Ohno’s shoulders for dear life, his attention snapping from Ohno’s face to their rings blinking brightly under the dim light as Ohno threads their ringed hand together and pulls Nino’s face down for a hard kiss.   
  
He doesn’t even remember how they got here – the whirlwind of events sure left him with only those bits and pieces about the wedding earlier and nothing else – but figures he can just ask Ohno later.   
  
“ _Nino, Nino_ –“ Ohno whimpers deliriously into his mouth, tongue seeking his like a refuge and Nino gives in to him wholeheartedly, working his hips in time with Ohno’s own in perfect counterpoint. He’s panting into Ohno’s mouth – loud and shameless – feeling that strange sensation tingling in his core double on its own.   
  
“ _Oh God_ –“ he mewls, tilting his head just so and Ohno doing the same to deepen the kiss. Somehow, Nino finds it inevitable to stop moving, Ohno picking up where Nino left off by flipping their positions over till Nino in on the bed on his back, Ohno’s hands parting Nino’s legs apart and positioning himself in between.   
  
“ _Love you, I love you_ ,” Ohno says, repeatedly, before he sinks back into Nino with a little too much force that has Nino keening before he could stop himself. Ohno grunts, hands finding Nino’s face and kissing him, before he’s moving again – fucking Nino so hard into the mattress.   
  
Nino just lies there, taking it all and loving every second of it.   
  
There are no words for this, for the way Ohno grabs his hands and raises them above Nino’s head, kissing Nino and fucking him. No words to describe the way he makes Nino feel wanted, desired, loved even without saying anything, the way he makes Nino feel so lucky for having him. Ohno ducks down and kisses Nino again, hard and quick that their teeth click almost painfully, but Nino welcomes it all just the same.   
  
“Ahh, you’re mine!” Ohno half-yells, hips jerking into an overdrive; Nino moans, long and outdrawn, fingers finding Ohno’s own, letting Ohno watch as he pulls their twined hands together and kisses Ohno’s ringed finger softly.   
  
Ohno’s movement halts just the slightest bit, but only so he could do the same, dropping a kiss to Nino’s finger and moaning Nino’s name.   
  
“Yes,” Nino agrees, as Ohno strokes his face, soft and affectionate, before he wriggles his hips to urge Ohno on to continue. Ohno smiles, his eyes dark and visibly damp, and that strange feeling pounding in his core halts into a gradual stop.   
  
In its place, something entirely else settles – and it left Nino in awe, how the very same thing beams back at him when Ohno smiles, seeing the reflection of it through Ohno’s dark, dark eyes.   
  
The corners of Nino’s eyes sting and his heart clenches in his chest. It’s not the painful kind but it’s something that makes his eyes tear up just the same. Nino knows exactly what it is.   
  
He’s catching Ohno’s damp face in his hands before he realized what he is doing, stopping Ohno in his tracks, his inner muscles clenching around Ohno and making Ohno hiss in answer. He lifts up as he pulls Ohno down, kissing Ohno’s eyes, his cheek, his chin, the corners of Ohno’s mouth and breathes the words he wasn’t able to earlier.   
  
“I promise to stay with you, every waking hour of my existence, to love you unconditionally even when you think you’re the only one who can. I promise to be good to you, to be a better person deserving of your love, of your trust. I promise –“   
  
Ohno ducks down, kisses him to stop him talking. When Ohno pulls back, he is smiling, and Nino finds himself doing the same.   
  
Ohno shakes his head, strokes Nino’s cheek once and ducks down to kiss Nino again. It’s soft and sweet and chaste, and Nino honestly feels so undeserving of it, of Ohno’s love but knows that he’s the only one who can love Ohno just as much.   
  
He says nothing, but he welcomes Ohno down with another kiss that is both wanting and pleading, his body moving to accommodate Ohno’s weight. Ohno settles, above him and inside him, and Nino holds onto him for dear life, kissing Ohno back with all he has as Ohno begins the pleasurable torture all over again.   
  
This is his heaven on earth now, and Nino is going to enjoy every minute of it.

 

++

 

EPILOGUE

 

“Wait, did we close the –“ he starts to say, but Nino is quick on the uptake, just like always, catching Ohno off-guard with a kiss that is both hungry and filthy. He’s kissing Nino back before he even realized he’s doing it, hands finding Nino’s hips to grab onto as he angles his head and parts his mouth to let Nino’s tongue in.  
  
Nino moans into his mouth and somehow, Ohno knows it’s inevitable that he gets his mouth on Nino’s dick before their office break is over.   
  
He pulls away before Nino can distract him again, licking his lips and watching Nino do the same.   
  
“Oh-chan –“ Nino whines, moving to straddle him again even when Ohno’s already off his seat, half-carrying Nino with him.   
  
“The door,” he says, eyeing the said door contemplatively. Nino distracts him with a wet kiss aimed against his jaw before the both of them hear the distinct sound of the knob turning as it is being locked from the outside. Then Sho’s voice follows, albeit muffled, from outside the door announcing he’s going out for lunch and that he’ll be back after an hour.   
  
Nino promptly breaks into a giggling fit.   
  
“I love your secretary,” Nino says. Ohno starts to scowl – but it abruptly turns into a growl when Nino leans up to lick the shell of Ohno’s ear with purpose. “Don’t frown, you know I didn’t mean _it_ like _that_ ,” Nino tells him as he licks him again.   
  
Ohno turns his head and catches Nino’s mouth this time, kissing Nino thoroughly. He wonders if he’ll ever get tired of kissing Nino, of being kissed by Nino like this, but he guesses that’s not going to happen. He’s addicted to everything that is Nino, the taste and feel of Nino against him, and loves the fact that he knows he’s not the only one.   
  
One month later and it’s still feels like they’re just starting over. The wedding, Nino moving in with him in his house the day they flew back to Japan, spending every single day with Nino even when both of them are working. It’s honestly a very surprising upgrade from how he’d spent the past few months of his stay in Las Vegas, but he’s not complaining, not at all.   
  
A week after they went home, things have to be shuffled around a bit to fit their schedules. Ohno had to be the one to tweak his work timings a bit to make sure he’s working when Nino is, too. Given the fact that Nino usually works evenings in Stay Gold, Ohno needs to do the same, if only to make sure that he’s around when Nino needs him, even if it means sacrificing a few hours of his sleep just so he could be with Nino.   
  
But during the last two weeks, Nino almost always visits during lunch break, sometimes bringing food over for them to share. Mostly, it’s only to drive him crazy, like what Nino is doing now.   
  
“Aren’t you hungry?” he remembers to ask, though it’s honestly with a little difficulty, especially with the way Nino is sucking on his throat and making tiny, delicious noises as he does so.   
  
It doesn’t help that Nino’s fingers are otherwise occupied, too, squeezing Ohno through his trousers and moaning.   
  
“Oh _yes_ ,” Nino answers, lips finding his for a quick, messy kiss. “ _Totally_. I’m _starving_.” He follows, pulling just a bit away to lick his lips, knowing Ohno is watching. Ohno swallows, hard, chest heaving as he hears the sound of his zipper as it is being pulled down.   
  
“You’re going to be the death of me, I hope you know that,” he says, in lieu of saying something even more embarrassing. Nino simply tilts his head and smiles innocently, even as he is pulling Ohno’s dick out and stroking it.   
  
“Noted,” Nino says, leaning in to kiss him sweetly on the lips before he’s pushing himself off of Ohno’s lap to settle on the floor in between Ohno’s legs.   
  
Ohno groans and throws his head back just as Nino settles, carding his fingers through Nino’s hair and allows himself to enjoy the next blissful minutes inside Nino’s talented mouth.   
  
  
++   
  
It ends with Nino sitting limply on his lap, humming contently against the side of his neck.   
  
He spies Nino’s dick – soft and still wet from when it popped out of Ohno’s mouth a few minutes ago – and remembers his own he is yet to tuck back into his pants, but figures he could do it later. He turns and presses a kiss to the side of Nino’s head and rearranges Nino so he could wrap his arms around Nino firmly.   
  
“So, are you hungry? For food?” he clarifies, then smiles when Nino turns his head, muffling his giggles against Ohno’s throat.   
  
“Not really,” Nino answers, fingers playing the front of Ohno’s suit. “But, are you?”   
  
Ohno shakes his head. He probably was,  before, but he doesn’t remember being hungry now, not after having to swallow Nino’s cum eagerly earlier.   
  
He smiles, knows it’s a little wicked when he says, “Nah, I’m good. I just had milk –“ only to be shut off abruptly when Nino’s hand covers his mouth as Nino shakes uncontrollably with laughter.   
  
“Oh my god, I knew you were going to say that, you dirty pig, shut up, shut up, shut up!”   
  
“What, you just had milk too, right – ouch, ouch, hey, that hurts, Nino!”   
  
“Stop talking, oh my god, why did I even marry you, you filthy cow –“   
  
“You love me!”   
  
“Not if you keep referring to your own bodily fluid as milk, you disgusting jackass –“   
  
“I was referring to yours!”   
  
“That doesn’t make it better!”   
  
“Ha ha ha !”   
  
“Oh my god!”   
  
  
++   
  
They have lunch in his office half an hour later. Nino keeps saying it’s the last time he’s blowing Ohno in his office, but Ohno knows he’s bluffing. He tries to ward off his grins by telling Nino the same, but Nino simply huffs at him and tells him he’s a pervert.   
  
Ohno tells him he loves him in return.   
  
They have Chinese food for lunch, and despite knowing that Nino did come here for something else, it still surprised him when Nino told him what it is.   
  
“You want me to talk to GoldFace about that?” he asks, and puts his chopsticks down.   
  
Nino nods and does the same.   
  
“Well, if you can drag your secretary with you, then better.” Nino says; their eyes meet then and Ohno knows this isn’t just the usual request he tends to get out of an employee – or a former employee, nonetheless.   
  
“You’re proposing something that hasn’t been thought off before,” he says, leaning back into his chair. Nino straightens on his seat as if on cue and Ohno knows Nino also means business.   
  
He bites back a smile and crosses his arms over his chest.   
  
“You know it could be beneficial to both parties, and it is, I can assure you,” Nino says – he obviously knows what he’s saying, Ohno gives him that. “And I’m not telling you this without proof. I have the proposal already typed out, if you want to look it over.”   
  
Ohno strokes his chin thoughtfully. A proposal for a joint project. Between Stay Gold and Samii-jima. Hmm.   
  
“What if Matsumoto –“   
  
“He won’t hear of it, and that’s why I came to you,” Nino says, already reading what Ohno is thinking. Goodness, if this is how it’s going to be between them from here on, Ohno will think of ways how to steal Nino back from Matsumoto, even if he dies trying.   
  
“I know you’ve been eyeing that spot for years,” Nino follows, “but I’ve talked to the Real Estate company and they told me that they’d only agreed to sell the land specifically to Stay Gold.”   
  
“Makes you wonder about it, to be honest,” Ohno says, feeling sour about the whole thing. Well, it’s the truth and there’s no use in hiding his disappointment about it either.   
  
“They said it’s nothing personal,” Nino continues, “just that Stay Gold’s been their client for years so they’re reserving that spot for us, too.”   
  
Ohno chuckles. “Fine, so what does this have to do with me?”   
  
Nino shrugs. “You know what, Oh-chan,” he says. Ohno thinks it’s charming that Nino is certain they are in the same page – and they are, Ohno is sure of it – but that it’s difficult to ascertain what’s in it for him.   
  
For one, he knows it’s not the money, even though he’s positive Nino likes it enough to enjoy the luxury of having it, after he married Ohno, because Nino outright refused to be bribed even when Ohno was so ready to do so, just to get Nino back to work with him in Samii-jima, so he knows this proposal is for something else.   
  
Or for someone else.   
  
He sighs. “I thought we already agreed on _not_ interfering?”   
  
Nino shrugs. “I planned to,” he says, “but you should see how Matsumoto-san is these days. He’s like the devil in disguise, he’s driving people up walls and scaring clients off, I swear, and that’s not even the half of it.”   
  
Ohno frowns. “Nino, if he’s giving you a hard time –“   
  
“He’s not,” Nino says, cutting him off. “I promise, he’s not, but just –“ Nino pauses here, shaking his head. “He’s miserable, Oh-chan, and that’s – it’s hard, seeing him like that. I – I can’t stand it.”   
  
Ohno’s heart goes out to Nino, finds himself reaching over for Nino’s hand, squeezing it lightly.   
  
“Fine, okay,” he says, finally, chest constricting at the way Nino smiles tightly in return. “Let me read that proposal first and then I’ll think it over.”   
  
“Oh-chan, you know that’s –“   
  
“I can’t promise anything, Nino, but I’ll try,” he says, kissing Nino’s hand. He thinks about Sho and knows that he can be selfless too.   
  
He’s still not convinced it will work, but Nino seems sure enough to make it work so against Ohno’s better judgements, he agrees.   
  
After all, his best friend and Nino’s annoying boss needs their happy ending, too.


End file.
